When You Force a Friendship
by maddiegirl56
Summary: Austin Moon is the bad boy of Marino high. Ally Dawson has been his bullying target since freshman year. What happens when his friends-who no one knows about-force him to become friends with her? He certainly has no idea how it will even be possible, much less whether it'll last. But the real question here is, does he want it to?
1. Introductions and Lots Of Them

**Well, howdy there! XD This is my new story yayyyyyyyy! Now... I need disclaimer prompts so send one in about ANYTHING like something TOTALLY RANDOM and I'll use it! Ummm that's about it, so READ ON!**

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**Introductions and Lots Of Them**

I laugh with my friends as the brunette girl in front of me stoops to pick up the books I pushed out of her hands. She stands back up and looks at me with tears in her eyes. Then, she pushes between me and my best friend, Dallas.

"She finally broke!" he exclaims between laughs. We fist-bump and high five the rest of our friends.

"Practice today after school," I tell them. Not only are they my friends, but we're all on the football team, which shouldn't be surprising. If you hadn't already guessed, I'm the captain of the team. But allow me to properly introduce myself.

I'm Austin Moon, previously mentioned as the captain of Marino High's football team. Am I good-looking? Of course. Do I have a huge ego? Perhaps. Am I a total jerk to the nerds and losers of the school? You could say that. Am I a bad boy? Absolutely. Try _the _bad boy. Every girl in school wants me. Even the ones my friends make fun of. But not the one I make fun of.

Ally Dawson. The only girl in school who _doesn't _like me. She does her best to avoid me. Sure, I make fun of her every day. Today, she actually cried for the first time, which I'm very proud of. I've been trying to break her since freshman year, and we're seniors now. Anyway, my friends and I all chose a target when we got on the team. Mine is Ally Dawson. Dallas's target is Trish de la Rosa, Ally's best friend. Trish is in love with me, and so are all the other targets, and so are all the other girls in the school.

But, as I said before, I'm the 'it' boy. Therefore, my heart belongs with the 'it' girl. Kira Starr. She's pretty, insanely popular, incredibly rich, and totally obsessed with me. She's clingier than wet skinny jeans. And terribly annoying. But we kinda have to date, or the social scale would crumble. And my best friend has to date her best friend. Dallas and Cassidy get along really well, though they only spend time together when they have to. Kira and I, well, we're happy-ish.

I'm going to let you in on a little secret-I hate Dallas. And Kira. And Cassidy. I only hang out with them (and the rest of the cheerleading squad and football team) because I care about popularity. I want to be a world-famous musician, and I believe that starts with being popular in school.

"Alright, guys. Well, I gotta get to home-ec. I'll see you later," I tell them.

"I seriously can't believe Conley is making you take home-ec. All you did was set one of the stoves in that classroom on fire," Elliot, one of the dumber members of the team says. I shrug.

"I know. But there are a lot of girls in that class," I say with a wink. He rolls his eyes.

"You have a _girlfriend_," he tells me. I chuckle and walk away.

The truth is, I don't _actually _take home economics. Never in a million years. I actually have a free period right now, and I'm going to meet my _real _friends, like I do every day. We hang out in the abandoned home-ec classroom. I really did set it on fire in freshman year. They never fixed it.

"Hey, guys, sorry I'm late," I say, walking in the room. They all start complaining about how I'm always late. "Yeah, yeah, yeah," I say. Oh, right. I should probably introduce my friends. Well, my _real _friends.

Rocky Lynch. Brown eyes and long-ish brown hair. If you've seen the movie 'Tangled,' his hair is inspired by the infamous Flynn Rider. Rocky is funny, a little full of himself (but in a way that's funny, not annoying), and has girls chasing after him. He's their more realistic crush, after me, Dallas, and the football team.

Riker Lynch. He and Rocky are twins. Riker has blonde hair and brown eyes. He's focused, one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet, and he's the one we all go to for advice. I never listen to his advice, though I know I should.

Ellington Ratliff. Brown hair and brown eyes. He's literally the funniest person on earth. He loves cats and is always causing shenanigans. He deals with everything with humor, and that helps the rest of us keep our heads in high school. Most of us call him Ratliff. The only people who call him by his first name are his mom and his girlfriend.

Kelly Voosen. Ratliff's beautiful girlfriend. She has long, dark hair, blue eyes, and she sometimes wears glasses. She's smart, funny, and she and Ratliff are perfect for each other.

Dez Worthy. Red hair and blue eyes. He's a little…weird. But he's my best friend, and he has been since kindergarten. His fashion sense is crazy, and he has a bunch of strange pets. He's not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but he's a good person and wouldn't hurt a fly.

Last, but not least, Rydel Moon. Rocky's girlfriend, Kelly's best friend, and my twin sister. She has blonde hair, brown eyes, and is obsessed with Hello Kitty and the color pink. She also loves tutus and sparkles. She wears tinsel in her hair, and sometimes she temporarily dyes the tips different colors. No one knows we're siblings except our friends.

"You have to tell the football team eventually," Riker tells me.

"And I choose not to," I reply. "Sorry, but my reputation is important for my career. You know I hate them. _You're _my real friends."

"Yeah, we know," Kelly says. "But it's kinda annoying having to pretend we don't know you."

"It's even worse seeing how you act towards poor Ally," Rydel says. "I can't believe what you do to her."

"She's a total loser," I say in defense.

"You're a terrible person," Rocky says. "Why are we friends with you?"

"Because you know the real me!" I say. Dez sighs and puts his hand on my shoulder.

"Right now, the real you isn't too different from the fake you," he says. I sigh.

"I have an idea!" Rydel exclaims.

"Oh no," Ratliff says, rolling his eyes. Rydel shoots him a playful glare.

"Anyway," she says, getting serious, "prove that you're still the sweet guy that I know is my brother. Stop bullying Ally and become friends with her." I start cracking up.

"That's a good one, Rydel. Really," I say in between laughs.

"I'm not kidding," Rydel says. "Ally doesn't deserve what you do to her. She's a sweet, beautiful, smart, innocent girl who has never done anything wrong. In fact, become friends with her, or we will know you're exactly the jerky bad boy you've made yourself up to be, and therefore we'll want nothing to do with you."

"Seriously? You're all threatening to not talk to me if I don't become friends with Ally?" I ask my sister.

"Yes. I'll make this easier-she doesn't even have to be a public friend. She can be like us. No one, but us, will have to know of your friendship. So, are you gonna make one new friend, or lose six old ones?" she says. I sigh.

"I don't really have a choice," I say.

"You're doing the right thing, buddy," Ratliff says. I roll my eyes and leave the room, walking towards my next class. Unfortunately, I sit next to Ally in that class, so I'll have to talk to her sooner than I thought.

I just can't believe my friends would do this to me. They know I think Ally's a total loser. She hates me, and I hate her. That's how it's been since freshman year, and that's how it should always stay. If anyone finds out about what I'm about to do, the entire social system of the school could fall to pieces. I seriously have no idea how I, Austin Moon, am gonna be friends with Ally Dawson.

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**Sorry this was so short! I promise the chapters will be longer, but I have to get everything rolling first. I don't have many ideas for this story-just the main plot. I'm excited to see where this goes, though! Are you excited? Cuz I am XD So, if you liked it, put RYDEL in a review. If you kinda liked it, put KELLY in a review. If you hated it, put ALLY in a review. Thanks for reading and please review! Love you all a lot XD!**

**~Maddie :)**


	2. Love Songs

**Bonjour! I have written chapter 2 as you can probably tell XD! Okay, so just telling you guys-at this point in the story, Austin DOES NOT like Ally. Not even as a friend. I accidentally made it seem like he was at war with himself over the whole thing, but he DOESN'T like Ally at all whatsoever. Just wanted to clear that up. Now, the disclaimer prompt was given to me by xX-T-luv-Xx: Flying turtles, flaming bunnies, the color yellow, and true love. Well, that's a great way to start off our new disclaimer series! :)**

**Maddie's Fancy Disclaimers: Part I**

***I'm chilling with Ross and Megan (who Ross recruited) in our secret agent headquarters***

**Me: *Sigh* I'm so happy you and Laura got together.**

**Megan: I know right?! It's true love!**

***Ross smiles* **

**Ross: Yeah, it is. **

**Me: So, what'd she give you for your six month-aversary?**

**Ross: Well, so you know I got her a diamond necklace...**

**Megan: I didn't! Awwwwwww!**

**Ross: Well, she got me new yellow guitar!**

**Me: That's awesome!**

**Ross: I know right? She's the best!**

***Suddenly something on fire comes through the window***

***We all scream***

**Ross: WHAT IS THAT?!**

**Megan: I DUNNO BUT IT'S ON FIRE!**

**Me: IT'S A BUNNY!**

**Ross and Megan: Wait, what? **

**Flaming Bunny: Hi, there! **

***We scream***

**To Be Continued**

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**Love Songs**

I sigh as I plop down in my seat in my least favorite class next to my least favorite girl. Why do I have to be in Calculus? Why can't I be stupid like the rest of my friends? Well, my fake friends, that is. I take a deep breath and turn to the brunette sitting next to me.

"Hey, Ally," I say. Normally I call her a cute nickname I made up for her-Dorkson. This is the first time I've called her Ally. She looks at me with a dead expression.

"What," she says as more of a statement than a question.

"How's it going?" I ask. She raises an eyebrow.

"Considering you just embarrassed me _again _and now I'm stuck talking to you, not so great," she replies.

"Ouch," I say. "Look, I'm sorry. For everything."

"As if," she scoffs. "You're probably just trying to make me trust you so you can ultimately embarrass me. I'm not an idiot, Moon."

"I'm not-" I start.

"Mr. Moon and Miss Dawson, is there something you'd like to share with the class?" Mr. Jones says. He's really old and grouchy, and he _really _hates me. Ally sinks in her chair shyly.

"Actually, yes, Mr. Jones," I say. "Ally's feeling faint and nauseous, and I'm telling her to go to the nurse, but she's afraid she'll get in trouble if she asks if she can go. She's really pale," I say. Mr. Jones is practically blind, so he can't tell if Ally's snow white or if she got a spray tan.

"Ally, go to the nurse. I don't want you throwing up in my classroom." He gives her a hall pass and she stands up nervously, looking at me with a confused expression.

"Um, sir?" I say to the teacher. He raises an eyebrow at me. "Do you mind if I go with her? I don't want her to faint in the hallway."

"Very well," he says, giving me a hall pass as well. I thank him, stand up, and gently guide Ally out of the class. When we're a little ways down the hall, Ally stops and jerks away from my hand on her back.

"Okay, what's going on?" she asks. "I'm not feeling faint or nauseous, and even if I was, you'd be the _last _person I'd tell."

"Well, I didn't want to be the cause of you getting detention, but I still needed to talk to you so I made it up," I tell her. The second part is true. I couldn't care less if I'm the reason she gets detention. _You're doing this to keep your friends_, I tell myself. She looks at something behind me, then back at me, and then she runs. I sigh and stick my arm out, so she runs into it. I pull her back in front of me. She sighs and glares at me.

"Look, I don't know what your plan is this time, and I don't want to, though I know I'll probably be the victim. Either way, I wanna get back to class, so please just…" she trails off and tries to push past me.

"Ally-" I start.

"Why are you calling me that? I'm _Dorkson _to you and your friends, remember?" I sigh exasperatedly.

"Why don't you want me to call you by your _real _name?"

"'Cause it's not normal!" she exclaims. "I don't know what's going on, and I hate it! I don't understand why you're suddenly apologizing and calling me by my real name for the first time since freshman year! You're the captain of the football team, and I'm a total loser. You've bullied me _every day _since ninth grade, and then suddenly, three years later, you've decided to _apologize _for it? It doesn't make sense! There's also the fact that-"

"Ally," I say, putting my hands on her shoulders. She flinches and jerks away from my touch. My hands drop. "You're rambling," I tell her.

"Yeah, I do that sometimes," she snaps at me. I take a small step closer to her.

"Look, I'm trying to apologize. I've been thinking about it, and I've been a total jerk."

"Wow, really?" she says sarcastically.

"Yes," I say. "Anyway, I'm really sorry. For every name, every time I've pushed you into the lockers, every time I've knocked your books out of your hands, every time I've laughed at you, every time I've embarrassed you. I'm sorry for being the reason you're so shy and insecure, and don't deny the fact that I am. I'm sorry for being such a terrible person. I'm sorry for anything and everything else I've done to you. I'm sorry," I say, faking guilt and sincerity. She sighs.

"I forgive you," she says. I fake a smile.

"So, um, I was thinking… Maybe we could try to be… you know, friends?" I say with fake nervousness. She smiles up at me.

"Yeah, I'd like that," she says. I grin and hug her, but she pushes me away. "One thing you should know about me-I don't do physical contact." I nod.

"Okay, sorry," I say.

"We should probably get back to class."

"Or," I say, "we could go out for ice cream."

"I'm not ditching, Moon," she says.

"C'mon, please? We both already know the lesson, so what are we missing?" I say.

"_You _already know the lesson?"

"I'm smarter than I look."

"I dunno…" she says, biting her lip.

"What've you got to lose?" I ask.

"My perfect attendance record. My freedom. My trustworthiness," she says, counting off on her fingers.

"Perfect attendance doesn't matter, and I can make sure no one finds out," I say. Ally raises an eyebrow. "C'mon, don't you trust me?"

"Quite frankly, no."

"We're friends now, remember? I act differently towards my friends than I do to my targets." I hold out my hand. She sighs, rolling her eyes, and takes my hand. I grin and we walk out of the school.

"Why'd I say yes to this?" she says to herself as we get into my yellow Camaro.

"Because you trust me," I reply.

"That was rhetorical." I grin and turn up the music as I pull out of the parking lot. Ally looks like she's having an inner conflict with herself.

"Hey," I say. "We'll be fine. I'm the bad boy, remember? I've gotten away with this a million times."

"And I'm the _good girl_, remember? I haven't," she replies.

"Bad overrules good," I tell her. She raises an eyebrow. "In this circumstance. Trust me. By the end of the day, you'll go from good girl, to bad babe." Her eyes widen.

"Turn this car around."

"Calm down, Ally. I'm teasing," I say. She sighs, but her grip on the armrests is still tight. Her knuckles are turning white. "Happy thoughts," I tell her. "Peaceful meadows, gentle breeze, me shirtless…" She opens her previously closed eyes and slaps my arm.

"That is _not _a happy thought."

"Ally, whether you like it or not, I'm ripped. And ripped means abs. And abs means good thoughts for girls. Now, close your eyes," I instruct. She sighs but closes her eyes again.

"I don't see the point of this."

"It'll help you go to your happy place. Now, knowing you-"

"You _don't _know me," she says.

"Yes I do. We may have been enemies from ninth grade up until today, but that doesn't mean I don't know you. Anyway, knowing you, your happy place is probably a nice, quiet clearing in the woods. The temperature is a little chilly, but you have warm clothes on, hot chocolate, and a blanket. You're curled up under a tree reading your favorite book, and you're at the part where the two lead characters share their first kiss," I say in a soothing voice. She sighs contentedly, her eyes still closed.

Now that she's _finally _quiet, I think. Not about anything in particular. I just think. Mostly, though, my thoughts come back to her. How am I _ever _gonna survive a friendship with her? She's annoying, bossy, and totally boring. Plus, she's not even pretty.

_She's beautiful_, some voice deep in my head says. I look over at her with a confused eyebrow raised.

"No she's not," I say aloud. Ally opens her eyes and they widen.

"Eyes on the road!" she shrieks. I quickly look forward and veer away just in time. Any later and a huge semi-truck would've hit us. I turn into the parking lot of the ice cream shop and park, breathing heavily. Ally's breathing heavily, too, and her hands grip the armrest, while my knuckles are white on the steering wheel.

"You almost killed us!" she exclaims. "What were you even looking at? Why'd you suddenly say 'no she's not?'"

"I'm sorry, and don't ask so many questions!" I tell her. She sighs and gets out of the car. She storms into the ice cream shop, me at her heels. Then, she turns to face me.

"Just because we're friends now, doesn't mean I'll just stop getting mad at you," she tells me. I nod.

"Fighting means you care. I'm okay with that," I say. As for me, well, everything I do in this friendship is completely fake. I'm only doing this because my _real _friends made me. She nods slowly, unsure whether what I said is true.

"Let's just get our ice cream," she says.

"Okay. But you need to know something. The guy's gonna ask us why we aren't in school. Our story is that you're sick and staying home from school, and I'm your older brother who's already graduated taking care of you. Got it?" I say. She nods. "So you probably shouldn't speak," I add. She nods again.

"Wasn't gonna." I nod and we walk up to the counter. Sure enough, the old man working questions us.

"What are you kids doing outta school?" he asks.

"My sister here is sick, and she's staying home from school. I graduated last year and I'm waiting to go to college until my girlfriend graduates this year," I tell the guy. He buys it.

"Sorry to hear that, Miss," he says to Ally after hearing she's sick. Ally nods and does a convincing fake cough. I pat her back.

"Anyway, I'll have a cone of chocolate chip cookie dough. What do you want, sis?" I ask Ally. She coughs again and points to a sign that says _fruity mint swirl_. "And my sister will have a cone of fruity mint swirl," I add. The man nods and scoops the ice cream. Ally starts getting out her wallet.

"I'm paying," I tell her. "You're sick. Besides, Mom and Dad gave me money to buy you stuff like ice cream and soup. Why use your money when you can use Mom and Dad's? Plus, ice cream isn't that expensive," I say. She raises her eyebrows at me, as if asking 'Are you sure?' I nod. She sighs and puts away her wallet.

"That'll be three twenty-seven," the man says. I pay him and he gives us our ice cream. "You know, you don't look much alike for brother and sister," he notes. I nod.

"That's because we're step siblings. My mom married her dad. We don't like talking about our other parents much, and we treat each other like we're real siblings and have known each other since birth," I lie smoothly.

"Alright," the man says. "Sorry for asking," he apologizes sincerely.

"It's okay," I say. "Well, I should probably get her home. Thanks!" I say, guiding Ally out the door and into my car.

"You're a good liar," Ally says when we're on the road.

"Thanks," I say with a smirk.

"You didn't have to pay for my ice cream."

"Ally, it was a dollar fifty. Really, it's fine." I didn't really mind paying, even though my money was wasted on her. I did it for the act.

"Well, thanks," she says. "I _love _fruity mint swirl." She licks her cone and gets some of the green ice cream on her nose. I resist the urge to laugh and pretend it's not there. Maybe other people at school will laugh at her, or maybe she'll get caught for ditching. Either way, it'll be funny.

"So, listen," I say. "About our friendship. You see, I have an image to maintain. We both know that. I'm the bad boy and the captain of the football team. I can't suddenly be seen hanging out with the school's good girl who also happens to be my main target. I'm obviously gonna stop bullying you, but we can't have any interaction around the football team or in public." Ally looks confused.

"That's not really how you treat a friend," she says. "You're embarrassed to be seen with me?"

"You should also be embarrassed to be seen with me," I try to reason with her. "Imagine what teachers will think if they hear you're now all buddy-buddy with the school bad boy? I don't want them thinking less of you because of me. Anyway, I have other friends that are in the same boat as you. I'll introduce you tomorrow at free period. We both have it period five, yeah?" She nods. "Good. We can meet in room C-33. You'll like my other friends."

"Wait, so the football team and the cheerleading squad aren't your only friends?" she asks. I shake my head.

"Sometimes I need a break from them. I mean, they're my best friends, but they get a little crazy and annoying at times. My other friends have their heads on straighter, you know?" I say.

I'm lying about the football team being my best friends, if you couldn't tell. Remember, I _hate _the football team. They're annoying and obnoxious and loud. But I'm maintaining my image and being popular for my future singing career. As for the cheerleaders, they're pretty annoying too, especially Kira and Cassidy, but they're also hot, so I don't mind them as much.

"Yeah, I know all about how annoying they are, remember?" she says. "Picked on every day by you and your _friends_," she says.

"But not anymore," I remind her. "Oh, by the way, you can't tell anyone about our friendship, or that I have friends other than the football team and the cheerleaders." She sighs and nods.

"I won't."

We ride in silence the rest of the way to school. We get there just in time for seventh period. We both have AP music, and we're the only ones in the class. The football team and cheerleaders have no idea about my love of music. They think music is stupid and a waste of time, unless they're partying. But if they knew I wanted to pursue it as a career, they'd kick me out of their group for sure, even though I'm the leader. So, no one but Ally and my actual friends know I even associate myself with music.

"We better hurry," Ally says. "We only have three minutes to get to the other side of the school." We run and make it to our classroom just in time, but we're breathing heavily and our hair is messed up from the wind.

"Austin," Mrs. Adagio, our music teacher, says when we sit down, "how many times have I told you no making out in the janitor's closet? Especially not with someone as innocent as Ally." Ally and I both make disgusted faces and look at each other, then look back at our teacher. We quickly pat down our hair.

"We were _not _making out," I say. "We hate each other, remember?" I shoot a glare Ally's way, and she's already glaring back. At least she has good acting skills.

"Ah, yes," Mrs. Adagio says. "But I do believe you two will fall in love one day."

"Ew!" we exclaim at the same time. Mrs. Adagio laughs.

See, our music teacher is only twenty-six years old. She's new this year, and she got the job right out of college. She has long, wavy brown hair, green eyes, and she looks like a model. If the football team knew she existed, they'd drown themselves in their drool.

But they don't. Ally and I are the only class she teaches, so she knows us pretty well. Although, Ally doesn't talk much in this class, even though there are only two of us. She doesn't perform, either. I think Mrs. Adagio lets Ally perform privately because of some personal issue. Probably Ally being too afraid of even more bullying if she performs in front of me. I mean, I'm not denying that it would happen. Her voice probably sounds like a dying cat.

"Okay," Mrs. Adagio says. "So, today, we're starting a new unit on love songs." I make a gagging noise. She raises an eyebrow at me.

"Sorry," I apologize. "I just hate love songs." Normally, I wouldn't say anything to a teacher about making noise in class. But I actually like this class and I never miss it unless I'm sick. Well, the only downside of it is that Dorkson is here.

"Why is that?" Mrs. Adagio asks.

"Simple. Love isn't real. I don't like how fake they sound. If you're gonna write a song about love, at least make it sound real. It's like saying unicorns are real, but putting a party hat on a rocking horse to prove your point. I don't wanna hear a song about love if it sounds fake and forced. I would want the song to make me believe love is real, even if it's only for a few minutes. I haven't heard one love song yet that can do that," I say. Every word of it is true.

As I said before, love doesn't exist. In the movies, books, and TV shows it might, but this is real life. Two people can't just be _right _for each other. Sure, I love my family, but that's totally different. I can't see a girl and suddenly know she's _the one_. Because _the one _doesn't exist. It's just a fantasy people dream about and wish for. They want a break from reality, so they imagine that whoever they're with is their true love. I don't waste my time dreaming of something that isn't real.

"Well, that's a shame," Mrs. Adagio says. "Because you still have to write one. Try to write the first one that doesn't sound fake in your opinion," she continues.

"I'm a twelfth grader. Not a miracle worker," I reply. Mrs. Adagio shrugs.

"Hey, I'll be happy if you can even write the song. Your past work has been… Well, not too great." Ally snorts. I raise an eyebrow at her, but she doesn't look at me. "Don't get me wrong, Austin, you're an amazing musician and singer. Writing songs just isn't your strong suit." I nod.

"I've heard," I say.

"Anyway, the assignment is to write three love songs. One upbeat, one slow, and one you must sing to each other. Also, in class, you two are going to write a duet that will be a love song. The love songs will be due December eighth, so that gives you exactly one month to write them. Any questions?" Mrs. Adagio says. Ally raises her hand.

"You don't have to raise your hand, Ally. There are only two of you." Ally sheepishly puts her hand down.

"Does the love song I have to sing to Austin have to be sung to Austin, and do we have to sing the duet together?" she asks. I look at her strangely. She answered her own question in her question.

"Yes, Ally. I'll allow you to perform the other two privately, but the duet and the song to Austin must be performed," Mrs. Adagio replies. Ally gets pale. I wonder what her problem is. Just then, the bell rings.

"Bye, Mrs. Adagio," I say as I walk out the door after Ally.

"Bye guys!" she replies. As soon as the door shuts, I turn Ally, who was previously walking in front of me, around to face me. She still looks pale, and she _actually _looks like she might faint.

"You okay?" I ask. Not because I actually care, but because I still have to keep up the act. Everything I do is for the act. Whether it's being the bad boy, being friends with the football team, or being friends with Ally. It's all for the overall act of being Austin Moon. Wow, I'm not making sense anymore. The stress of acting all the time is getting to my head.

"No, not really," Ally replies. A bit of color returns to her face now that she's talking. "I know that it's just you and Mrs. Adagio, who I've already performed in front of, but I dunno, I just don't want to." I know she's hiding something. I can read people well, especially her. I don't know how I can read her so well if we've been enemies for so long, but I can.

"It'll be fine," I tell her. "What's the worst that could happen?"

"You could hear me sing horribly and go back to bullying me," she deadpans.

"But that won't happen," I say. _Because if I did, I'd lose all my real friends, _I think to myself. She looks at me as if she's trying to read me. I'm good at hiding my emotions, so I know she can't.

"Whatever. I gotta get to creative writing."

"That's a class?" I ask.

"Yeah," she replies. "You'd fail at it." I mock hurt and she laughs. "See you later," she says.

"Yeah. Don't forget- C-33 at free period tomorrow!" I call after her as she walks away.

"Wouldn't miss it!" she calls back. Then, she turns back around and keeps walking. I walk in the opposite direction to AP English. If the guys knew how good my grades are in _honors _classes worst of all, I'd be the laughingstock of the group. I sigh and wander to my class, wondering when my life became faker than love songs.

* * *

**Ugh my fanfiction is being stupid. Nevermind I fixed it. Anywhoozles, that was chapter 2! So, what do you think of Austin's act? Also, do you think Ally really trusts him, or do you think she's only acting as well? How do you think the love songs are gonna turn out? What's wrong with Ally? Do think she'll be able to perform? Am I asking too many questions? Yes. But, I was wondering if, after each chapter, I should list like 3-5 questions for you guys to think about that might be of importance. It would actually be a list, not like what I just did. Also, should I answer questions on here that you guys ask? Leave me your thoughts in a review! So, if you liked the chapter, put LOVE SONGS in a review! If you thought it was okay, put ACT in a review! If you hated it, put AP ENGLISH in a review! Thanks for reading and please review! Love you all more than Austin and Ally love music!**

**~Maddie :)**

**Maddie's Fancy Disclaimers: Part I Continued**

**Flaming Bunny: Don't be scared! I've been sent to tell Ross Lynch to do Maddie's disclaimer! And if he doesn't, I BURN HIM!**

***Ross screams***

**Me: Well, ya better do it, then...**

***Flying turtle flies in***

**Flying Turtle: Agent FB, are you scaring the subjects?**

**Flaming Bunny: I'm sorry, Master, but I knew Ross wouldn't do it without a little fear!**

**Flying Turtle: True... Oh, hey Megan!**

**Megan: Hey!**

**Me: You know a flying turtle?**

**Megan: Yeah! I did a story on him one time! But I had no idea he knew a flaming bunny! How are you not dead?**

**Flaming Bunny: Cuz Maddie says I'm alive.**

**Megan: But that's against the laws of nature!**

**Me: Oh, Megan. You obviously don't know. Ross, readers, say it with me!**

**Ross, Me, and My Readers: SHE'S THE AUTHOR. SHE CAN DO WHATEVER SHE FREAKING WANTS!**

**Megan: Oh. Okay! :)**

**Ross: Well, I guess I better do the disclaimer. Maddie doesn't own Austin & Ally or anything you recognize!**

**Flaming Bunny: Good job! **

**Flying Turtle: I couldn't have said it better myself! Now, come!**

***Flaming Bunny hops on Flying Turtle's back and they fly away***

**Me: Well, that was weird.**

**The End**


	3. Escape

**I'm back again with chapter 3! XD Okay so I really like the beginning, but then I like it less and less as it goes on and then I hate the ending. Yup. So... MERRY CHRISTMAS TO THOSE WHO CELEBRATED IT YESTERDAY! I GOT 1D TICKETS AND A LOT OF R5 STUFF YAAAAAAYYYYY! Now, DISCLAIMER TIME! The prompt is Ross and Laura are on a date and me and his family crash it and embarrass him from amillipede. You guys are getting good at prompts... **

**Maddie's Fancy Disclaimers: Part II**

***Me and Riker, Rydel, Ryland, Rocky, and Ratliff are spying on Ross and Laura on their date***

**Ross: You know we're never gonna hear the end of this on set.**

**Laura: I figured. We both know everyone there ships Raura. **

**Ross: *smiles* It's so cute when you say it.**

**Laura: *smiles and blushes* **

***They lean in to kiss***

**Me: *whispers* Now.**

***Me and the others rush to their table***

***We pull up chairs and sit with them***

**Riker: Hey guys!**

**Rydel: How's it going? **

**Ryland: You look nice, Laura. **

**Ratliff: Awww, Rossy's turning red. **

**Rocky: You gonna eat that? *Takes an onion ring from Laura's plate* **

**Me: Wait, are you guys on a date?**

**Ross: *His face is beet red with anger* *Talking with clenched teeth* Yes, guys. We are. **

**Me: OMG RAURA!**

**Riker: Great, she's fangirling.**

**Rydel: Maybe you shouldn't have said that.**

**Laura: Maddie, calm down. You knew it was coming.**

**Ryland: That's true. She told me her master plan to get you guys together. **

**Ratliff: Maddie, you kinda creep me out sometimes.**

**Me: Aww, thanks!**

**Rocky: You're weird. **

**Ross: _Anyway_, if you guys would just leave-**

**Me: You know the price of our departure. **

**Ross: *Groans loudly and lets his head fall on the table***

**To Be Continued**

* * *

**Escape**

I'm one of the last people to get to AP English. No one is surprised-I _am _the bad boy after all. But I don't ditch all my classes all the time. I ditch each class once a week. I have a very detailed schedule that allows me to ditch, but to also stay caught up on my work so I can achieve high marks. Yes, even though I'm a bad boy, I _do _still want to get good grades. I want to get into Music University of New York, the best music school in the country. If I go there and do well, there's no way I won't become a pop star.

Once I get to the class, I sit down in my assigned seat, which just so happens to be next to Riker. We're seated in alphabetical order, so 'Lynch' and 'Moon' are next to each other. Riker and I really only talk when we're asked to discuss something with our partner (we sit in pairs in this class). Sometimes, when we're reading an assigned book, we'll write notes on our bookmarks, but our non-school related conversation always stays at a minimum. Imagine the horror if anyone found out I, the bad boy and captain of the football team, am friends with a choir nerd. I could kiss my popularity and future stardom and fame goodbye.

So, I'm surprised when Riker whispers, "I know you have Calculus with Ally. You two friends yet?" I give him a look that says 'Tell you later,' but he doesn't pay attention. "Dude, c'mon. No one's paying attention. You can nod your head." I sigh and look around. Sure enough, everyone's paying attention to our boring teacher. I give a quick nod. I can't help but continue, bragging about my little scheme to escape school.

"I managed to get us out of most of Calculus. We went out for ice cream. And she's coming to meet you guys tomorrow. We have the same free period."

"Wait," Riker says incredulously. "You got good-girl, never-break-a-rule Ally Dawson to _ditch school_ with you?" I smirk.

"I can be very persuasive," I reply.

"Mr. Moon and Mr. Lynch, you two are quite chatty today," the teacher says. I roll my eyes, not responding. Riker does the talking.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Pate," Riker says. "I was just telling Austin to quit texting his girlfriend."

"Is that so?" Mr. Pate says. He walks over to me and holds out his hand, so I high-five it. He raises an eyebrow.

"I wasn't texting my girlfriend," I tell him. "I was texting Brooke Evans." 'Oooh' echoes through the class and I smirk.

"Either way, I need your phone," Mr. Pate says. I roll my eyes and hand him my phone. "And-"

"Detention after school, I know," I say. He nods and returns to his desk, putting my phone in the drawer. I shoot Riker a glare and he shrugs innocently.

The rest of the class passes quickly, and the final bell finally rings. Unfortunately, I can't ditch detention because it's in here, so Mr. Pate would see me leave the class. I sigh and put my feet up on my desk, closing my eyes. I feel a tap on my foot.

"Being bothered isn't part of the deal," I tell Mr. Pate, not opening my eyes.

"Open your eyes and listen," he snaps. I sigh and do as he says, taking my feet off the desk.

"What," I say.

"You need to get your act together. I know you cheat in this class-there's no other way _you _would be able to get an A. But I haven't caught you yet, so I can't discipline you. Anyway, I know that you really aren't smart enough to do anything more than work at McDonald's, so you may as well try your best so you can at least get a job," he says.

"I'm gonna be a famous pop star," I say matter-of-factly.

"No, you're not gonna amount to anything," Mr. Pate replies. "But that doesn't mean you can go on and disrupt those who _will _go far in life. They're actually trying in class and they're smart, unlike you. I honestly don't even know how you got in this class. You probably cheated on the placement test as well."

"Look, if you're just gonna sit here and bash on me, I may as well just go," I tell him. "You don't know anything about me. I don't cheat, I got into this class by doing _well _on the placement test, and I _really _hate you," I say, walking over to his desk and grabbing my phone. "Good day." With that, I walk out of the class, slamming the door behind me.

I grab my books out of my locker, stuff them in my backpack, and storm out of the school, punching a wall on the way. I've heard the 'you'll-never-amount-to-anything' speech before and I hate it. It's the teachers' job to encourage even the dumbest of students, not discourage them. I'm smarter than they think, and I hate how they automatically assume I'm some dumb oaf just because I'm the bad boy. Sure, I don't do my homework, but that's because I don't need it. I ace all my tests, and if they've never caught me cheating, I don't understand why they think I do. Sometimes I wish I hadn't made myself up to be the bad boy, but then I remember that this is the only way to become famous. I _have _to keep this up.

I jump in my car and start driving home. When I'm about three miles away from the school, I see a girl walking on the sidewalk. She's carrying a huge backpack, and she's carrying even more books in her arms. She keeps dropping them, and I can tell she's really struggling. I shrug and am about to keep driving, when I see the unmistakable caramel highlights. I groan and pull over next to her, rolling down the window.

"Hey, bestie," I say, putting on a fake smile. "Need a ride?" Ally quickly looks up, dropping her books again. She smiles gratefully, picking up her books and getting in the car.

"Thanks," she says as she drives off again. I nod in response, letting my smile slip away as my frustration comes back. She looks at me and tilts her head.

"What's wrong?" she asks. I quickly glance at her before focusing back on the road.

"I just hate school," I tell her. She snorts.

"Obviously. But why are you so mad?" I roll my eyes.

"It's not that interesting." I don't really want to tell her. I don't like letting people in. It makes me vulnerable. The only person who really knows everything about me, the only person I know I can be totally open with, is my sister. I'm not about to spill my heart to this girl who I'm faking friendship with. Even though it's just being frustrated at the teachers, she wouldn't understand unless I told her everything, and I'm not doing that.

"I'm interested," she says.

"It's kinda personal," I tell her. "As in, not-telling-anyone personal."

"Oh, sorry," she says. There's a beat of silence. "But know that I'm here, okay? If you ever need to talk to someone, or if you just need an escape, I'll be here for you. If you feel alone with no one who'll listen, I'll always be ready to listen to you, okay?" she says. Ugh. I have to swallow my vomit. So sappy and disgusting.

"Thanks," I say, faking a grateful smile. "You're the best." Ally grins.

"So, you should probably tell me where you live so I can take you to the right house," I say.

"Oh, right," she says. "Take your next left, and then keep going till you reach Turquoise." I do as she says. "Okay, now make a right, and I'm the first house on the right." I stop in front of her house.

"Here we are," I say, eager for her to get out of my car.

"Thanks for the ride," she tells me, getting out and grabbing her backpack and huge pile of books. I watch as she stumbles trying to walk up the steps to her door and sigh. I get out of my car and take the books from her hands. She looks at me and smiles.

"Yeah, yeah, don't say thanks," I tell her, knowing she's about to.

"Okay," she replies. "I won't." She opens the door and leads me into her house. It's not large, but it's cozy and has a friendly feel to it. She sets her backpack by the door and I put the books on the table where she tells me to.

"Want something to drink?" she asks, getting a soda out from her fridge.

"Actually, I gotta get going. My parents like me coming straight home," I tell her. It's not completely a lie. Rydel gets worried that I'm doing something deadly or illegal if I don't go right home from school.

"Oh, okay," Ally says. "Well, thanks for giving me a ride and helping me out."

"Ally, I told you not to thank me. I was just doing what a good friend would do," I say. Ally shrugs.

"It's rude _not _to thank you." I sigh.

"Whatever. You're welcome. See you tomorrow." She nods and shuts the door when I leave. I drive home, which just so happens to be the next street over.

I pull my car into the driveway and go inside. Rydel pounces.

"Where were you? What were you doing? Did you get caught? Are the cops coming? How many times have I told you to come straight home? Mom's gonna have a fit! Why do I even tell you things if you don't listen? Austin, I swear, I-"

"Calm down, Rydel," I interrupt her. I just had detention for texting in class.

"You were-"

"_No_," I interrupt again. "I got caught talking to Riker and he covered it up by telling Mr. Pate that he was just telling me to stop texting. But then I left detention early, and I ended up driving Ally home 'cause she was having trouble walking. That girl has a _lot _of books."

"Wait, you're friends with Ally?" Rydel asks. "Well, obviously you are, 'cause you didn't call her Dorkson. Man, that was fast. Good job, little bro."

"Seven minutes isn't a big enough difference to get to call me 'little bro.' As for the Ally thing, I guess you could say we're friends. I mean, I'm not-She-Well," I sigh, not knowing how to tell Rydel that my side of it is all fake. So I don't. "Yes. We're friends now. I got her to ditch Calculus and go out for ice cream with me." Rydel raises an eyebrow.

"You got-"

"_Yes_," I interrupt. "I'm Austin Moon. I can do anything." Rydel chuckles and ruffles my hair. I immediately pat it down.

"Of course you can," she says with a smile. I roll my eyes and flop on the couch. I grab the remote, but Rydel takes it from me.

"Mr. Pate gave you the 'you-won't-amount-to-anything' speech, didn't he?" Rydel says, picking up my legs, sitting down, and putting them back in her lap.

"How'd you know?" I ask.

"Twin telepathy," she tells me. "Austin, don't listen to him. You can be anything you want. I know you, and I know that when you want something, you don't give up until you have it. You'll become famous one day, if that's what you want. You're the most talented musician I've ever met. You're _way _smarter than people give you credit for, and I know that deep down, behind that bad boy image you've made for yourself, you're still that sweet, caring brother that beat up James Worth when he rejected me in seventh grade." I chuckle at the memory. But then I become serious again.

"Then why does no one believe in me?" I ask.

"Because you don't let them. If you'd just be yourself all the time, maybe they'd believe in you more," Rydel says.

"But then I won't become famous. Popularity is everything in the music world. I _need _this popularity, Rydel."

"Austin, you're gonna be successful whether you're popular in high school or not. You don't need to bully others to ensure your own success."

"I'm not talking about that," I say. "I'm talking about the fact that everyone thinks I'm gonna work at a fast-food restaurant."

"Do _you _think you will?" Rydel asks. I shake my head.

"No," I say. "But my confidence is draining. I can only take being told I'm a total failure so many times before I'll start believing it." Rydel sighs.

"Well, I'll never believe it. You're gonna do great things, Austin. Even if the things you're doing now aren't so great. Soon, this stage in your life will be the past. And the past is the past. You'll be focusing on the present, which will be you following your dreams." I smile slightly at my sister.

"Thanks, Dells," I say. She smiles and pats my leg.

"What are sisters for?" she says. Then, she adds, "Other than making their brothers pancakes?" I grin and sit up as she brings out two plates of chocolate chip pancakes.

"You're the best!" I exclaim, hugging her. She hugs me back and we eat our pancakes.

"Mom always says that when we were kids, I'd always try to give my pancakes to you 'cause you loved them so much," she says. I smile.

"And I'd try to give you my vegetables 'cause I hated them," I add.

"But we'd always get away with it 'cause we wouldn't argue about it. We just kinda did it," she says. "We were best friends back then." I look at her.

"We still are," I say. She looks back at me.

"Are we really? You spend more time with the cheerleaders than you do with me, and you're _always _with the football team. You come home for five minutes and then leave again. I see you for about an hour every day 'cause I'm always asleep when you get home. I feel like we never talk anymore, never just hang out. Not to mention our other friends. They see you even less than I do," Rydel says.

"You know I hate them, though. You guys are my real friends. I say that every day," I tell my sister.

"Are we, though? I dunno, Austin. I'm starting to agree with Dez. Maybe your fake image is becoming a reality."

"Rydel, you know that's not true!" I say, my voice rising.

"Don't you see, Austin?" she yells. "You're so busy trying to keep up this-this _act _of some popular bad boy, that you're failing to realize you're _hurting _people! It's not just your targets, Austin. It's me. And Dez. And Rocky, and Riker, and Ratliff, and Kelly. You're hurting _everyone_, Austin, but you're too caught up in yourself to notice." Her voice got quieter at the end, and that makes it even worse. It's too much. I silently grab my leather jacket and my car keys and start towards the door.

"Real mature, Austin!" I hear Rydel shout. "Run away from your problems and leave me alone again!" I don't turn around, don't do anything. I just walk out the door and get in my car.

I'm not sure where I intend to drive, but I'm too caught up in my thoughts to pay attention. Is what my sister said true? I can try to deny it, try to lie to myself, but I know the truth when I hear it. But I also know that I still need this popularity, no matter what Rydel says about me succeeding without it. So I'm not going to change anything. If they're truly my real friends, they'll understand that I have to do this if I ever want to become a pop star.

I find myself in front of Ally's house. Why? I don't know. But I'm too upset and preoccupied to think about it. I get out of my car and ring her doorbell. Ally answers within seconds.

"Austin?" she says. I don't bother with greetings. I don't bother with the fake smiles. I don't bother with the pretend interest. I don't bother with the mask I've been wearing for years, only to be taken off for few people, Ally not included. I don't bother with any of it.

"I need an escape," I tell her. Her eyes widen in a bit of surprise, but she recovers quickly. She nods and opens the door wider, grabbing my wrist and gently pulling me inside her house. She shuts the door behind me and leads me to her living room. We sit on the couch.

"Okay, do you wanna talk about it?" she asks me. I shake my head. I'm still not ready to let her in, and I still hate her. But she offered, and so I'm accepting. Plus, I don't think my friends would be on my side if I told them about my argument with Rydel. As for the speech Mr. Pate gave me, I'd just rather forget about that.

"Then Disney movies it is," Ally says. She starts to get up, but then she turns around. "I don't care how much of a bad boy you are, Moon. Disney movies can cheer _anyone _up." With that, she goes into what I think is the kitchen, but I can't see from where I am on the couch.

After a few minutes, she comes back with a bowl of popcorn, two ice cream sundaes, and a bowl of a bunch of different candies. She sets them on the table.

"Okay," she says, walking over to a cabinet, "we have Aladdin, Tangled, The Little Mermaid, Snow White, Cinderella, Hercules,-"

"That one," I say. "Hercules." Rydel and I used to watch that movie all the time as kids. I used to always pretend I was Hercules. It made me feel like I could do anything. I'd sing 'Go the Distance' nonstop. I always told myself _I _could go the distance. I still do. It's my secret catchphrase.

"I was hoping you'd pick that one," Ally says. "It's my favorite." She puts it into the DVD player and hits play. The movie starts and within minutes I forget about all my problems. I find myself singing along to 'Go the Distance' quietly. Soon enough, I'm singing louder with a smile on my face. Rydel and I used to _always _sing along to it.

After the song I remember Ally's there, and I immediately go still. I look over at her to find her already looking at me with a smile on her face. I raise an eyebrow at her and she laughs.

"Nice performance," she says. I scowl and eat another bite of ice cream. I'm not afraid or anything, but that was an uncool, totally not bad-boy side of me. I accidentally let her see it just now, and I make a promise to myself to be more careful. She can't ever see that side again.

"All my performances are cool," I reply. Ally shrugs and we finish our ice cream before moving on to the candy and popcorn.

Soon, Ally falls asleep. The bright side, I don't have to worry about hearing her annoying voice anymore. The bad side, she's asleep on me. Her head is on my shoulder and her arm is draped across my stomach. I try to shrug her off but she doesn't budge. I get her arm off my stomach and grab the remote. I need an excuse to wake her up, so I fast forward the movie to the end.

"Ally," I say, nudging her awake. She opens her eyes slowly and rubs them.

"Yeah?" she asks with a yawn.

"Movie's over," I tell her. "Thanks. You really helped." She smiles at me.

"No problem, Austin. I know you'd do the same for me." Okay, that makes me a little guilty. How blindly she's trusting me just because I said I wanted to be friends. Her entire view on me has changed because of that. I quickly shake off the guilt, a trick I've learned over the years. In fact, I'm so good at it, I don't feel guilt much at all anymore for picking on the losers.

"Yup. Well, I gotta go. See you tomorrow," I say. She gets up and walks with me to the door.

"Yeah, see ya," she says, waving as I leave. I walk to my car and drive away, without looking back. That's when all the memories of what happened today flood back. Well, the escape was nice while it lasted.

* * *

**Yeah, see what I mean? Anyways, I don't have much to say except JOSHUA CHOMIK IS REALLY ATTRACTIVE! Okay. I'm good. If you liked it, put ESCAPE in a review! If you thought it was okay, put HERCULES in a review! If you hated it, put SUNDAE in a review! Thanks for reading and please review! Love you more than I love Josh Chomik! Which is a lot guys. Like... A lot a lot. **

**Maddie's Fancy Disclaimers: Part II Continued**

**Ross: Maddie doesn't own Austin & Ally or Hercules or anything else you recognize. There. Now LEAVE!**

**Me: But, but, but...**

**Riker: We wanna stay!**

**Rydel: I haven't seen Laura in forever!**

**Ryland: I haven't seen a girl as beautiful as Laura in forever!**

***Ross glares at Ryland***

**Ross: Mine. **

**Rocky: I haven't had such good onion rings in forever! *Shoves more of Laura's onion rings in his mouth***

**Laura: Hey! *Takes the onion rings back***

**Ratliff: And I haven't made fun of you in forever! **

**Ross: *Rolls his eyes* *Gets an idea* Maddie's the leader of this operation, yes? **

**Me: Do you even have to ask? **

**Ross: So if you were to... I dunno... Faint, they'd all have to abort mission?**

**Me: Of course. I'm the leader. **

**Ross: Excellent. *Leans over table and kisses Laura***

**Laura: *shocked, but kisses back***

**Me: RAURA RAURA RAURA! *FAINTS VIOLENTLY***

**Rocky: How does one faint violently?**

**Me: *opens one eye* I dunno. I'm a fangirl. We do the impossible. *GOES BACK TO BEING VIOLENTLY UNCONSCIOUS* *Then opens one eye again* Plus, I'm the author. I can do whatever I freaking want. *GOES BACK TO BEING VIOLENTLY UNCONSCIOUS AGAIN***

**Riker: ABORT MISSION! MADDIE FAINTED!**

***The boys and Rydel carry me out of the restaurant, leaving just Ross and Laura, but they're still kissing***

***They eventually pull away***

**Laura: Ross, you know they left a while ago.**

**Ross: I know, but I like kissing you. **

***Laura blushes and they kiss again***

**The End**


	4. More Introductions

**I'm baaaack! Okay, so in this chapter I mention a lot of cheerleaders and it may get a little confusing but it's okay because they're really not that important. Also, two of the cheerleaders are named Tyler and Ryan, and they're GIRLS. Clearing that up. I mean, you can tell cuz I use she and her and stuff for them but yeah they're girls. BTW you should go read Sneaking Out & Suspicions by my fanfiction bestie EnvyNV because she's super snazzy. But legit it's a super good fanfic and you'll be saying 'WHAT?' after every sentence. I'm still trying to figure out WHAT'S GOING ON!? So yeah, enough rambling about that snazziness. OMG IT'S ROSS SHOR LYNCH'S BIRTHDAY TODAY! HAPPY BIRTHDAY ROSS! I CAN'T BELIEVE HE'S A LEGAL ADULT HE'S GROWING UP TOO FAST AND I'M CRYING! I'm sorry about that. On to the DISCLAIMER! Prompt by xX-T-luv-Xx: There's a war going on between Rydellington and Raura, and the rest of R5 including Ryland pick sides. Mark and Stormie also join the fight. Also include a rhino eating a pineapple. Okay. I can work with this.**

**Maddie's Fancy Disclaimers: Part III**

***I walk into the Lynch household to see a total mess***

**Me: Uhh, hello? Anyone home? Did the house get robbed? **

**Unidentifiable Male Voice: She's here!**

***A huge group of people run into the living room where I am***

** *I recognize the people as the Lynches, Ratliff, and Laura***

**Me: What's going on in here? **

***A rhino stomps into the kitchen* **

**Rhino: War. *Grabs a pineapple and starts eating it***

**Me: First of all, why is there a war, and second of all WHY IS THERE A RHINO IN THE KITCHEN!?**

**Rhino: I like pineapple. *Takes another bite***

**Stormie: Things have been... a little crazy over here.**

**Rhino: War. **

**Me: QUIT TALKING IN CODE AND TELL ME WHAT'S GOING ON OR I'LL TURN YOU INTO A PINEAPPLE AND FEED YOU TO THE RHINO!**

**Rocky: I've never seen her like this.**

**Riker: I know.**

**Ratliff: I'm a little scared.**

**Ross: I'm _really _scared.**

**Laura: She's only 13. She can't possibly-**

**Ryland: Don't underestimate her.**

**Laura: But-**

**Rydel: Don't. Just don't.**

**Mark: Maddie, let's calm down...**

**Stormie: It's not gonna work Mark.**

**Me: JUST TELL ME WHAT'S GONIG ON! I'M A FEW KEYBOARD CLICKS AWAY FROM LETTING THE RHINO EAT YOU!**

**Ross: Okay, okay. We're having an... argument-**

**Rhino: War.**

**Ross: ARGUMENT! about whether Raura or Rydellington is better. Me, Laura, Ryland, and my mom thing Raura is better. Ratliff, Rydel, my dad, Rocky, and Riker think Rydellington is better. **

**Rocky: IT'S TEARING THIS FAMILY APART!**

**Ross: THAT'S BECAUSE YOU'RE ALL WRONG! *Throws shoe at Rocky***

**Mark: RYDELLINGTON IS BETTER THAN RAURA! YOU GUYS ARE BEING INFLUENCED BY ACTING LIKE A COUPLE ON THE SHOW! RYDELLINGTON IS REAL!**

**Laura: WE'RE NOT BEING INFLUENCED!**

**Riker: YES YOU ARE! RYDELLINGTON IS MORE REAL! **

**Stormie: RAURA IS JUST AS REAL AS RYDELLINGTON!**

**Ratliff: NO IT'S NOT!**

**Ryland: YES IT IS!**

**Rydel: NO IT'S NOT! RYLAND JUST COME ON OUR SIDE!**

**Ross: I LOVE LAURA MORE THAN ANYTHING AND I'D DIE FOR HER. IF THAT'S NOT REAL THEN TELL ME WHAT IS!**

***Everyone starts throwing things***

**Me: GUYS STOP! **

***Everyone stops***

**Laura: Why can't we move?**

**Me: Because I'm the author and I can do whatever I freaking want. Anyway QUIT FIGHTING! BOTH COUPLES ARE REAL AND AMAZING!**

**Ratliff: BUT RYDELLINGTON IS MORE REAL AND AMAZING!**

**Ross: WHY I OUGHTTA... *Tries to move but can't***

**Stormie: Maddie, honey, we know you ship one more than the other. **

**Me: Well-**

**Rydel: C'mon, bestie. We have more numbers.**

**Laura: We have more shippers!**

**Rocky: More teenagers!**

**Ross: More edits!**

**Riker: MORE-**

**Me: EVERYONE SHUT UP!**

***Everyone's mouths get glued shut***

**Rhino: Ahh, peace and quiet to enjoy my pineapple.**

**Me: Ugh, I've never been more annoyed by you guys! Actually, I've never been annoyed by you guys period! **

***Somehow they break the author curse***

**Mark: You wouldn't have to be annoyed if you just chose our side.**

**Me: How did you-**

**Stormie: You've seen ship wars. Anything is possible.**

**Me: But-**

**Laura: Even authors can't contain us!**

**Ross: Choose our side!**

**Ratliff: No ours!**

**Laura: NO OURS!**

**Rydel: NO OURS!**

**Ryland: NO-**

**Me: I CHOOSE NOTHING! YOU GUYS ARE BEING TERRIBLE! THIS SHIP WAR IS TEARING YOU GUYS APART AND I CAN'T TAKE IT! I'M STARTING TO NOT SHIP ANYTHING AT ALL!**

***I storm out of the Lynch household***

**To Be Continued MWAHAHAHAHA**

* * *

**More Introductions**

I get home within two minutes and walk inside. I see Rydel sitting on the couch and watching-what do you know-Hercules. I sit next to her and she pauses the movie.

"Did your friends annoy you so much you had to get out of there?" Rydel asks flatly. I nod. There's no point in lying.

"But I _did _realize that I _have _been ignoring you and the rest of my _real _friends. I never meant to. I didn't even realize I was. I'm s-sorry." I stutter on 'sorry' because I'm not used to apologizing for anything. "You said that I don't need popularity in high school to become famous. That may be true, but the popularity will add to my chances. I can't just drop everything and stop hanging out with them, but I'll hang out with you guys more. Especially you. You're my sister and I'm a terrible person for neglecting you." Rydel sighs.

"I forgive you, but I still wish you'd ditch the populars. But, I know you won't do that, so hanging out with me more is the next best thing. I love you, Austin," she says.

"Love you too, sis. Don't forget that." We hug and finish watching the movie together.

After the movie ends, Rydel has to do homework. I obviously don't do homework, but a lot of the time I help her with hers. She's in AP classes too, but I'm still smarter, which everyone's surprised about. We spend about two hours on homework every day. I usually play on my phone next to her until she asks for help.

"Wanna do your own homework today?" Rydel asks.

"Nope," I reply. "I'll just help you with yours like normal." She sighs in defeat and starts her homework.

Rydel's pretty fast tonight, and it only takes about an hour for her to finish. By that time, it's 9:45.

"I better get ready for bed," she says, putting away her homework. "And so should you." I nod.

"I know. I'm taking my time 'cause I wanna try and catch Mom and Dad," I tell her. She sighs.

"You won't be able to. Mom left a note saying they wouldn't be home till one, and you're not staying up that late on a school night. You need at least eight hours, so you gotta go to bed at ten," Rydel says.

"Fine," I grumble, masking how upset I am. I haven't actually seen my parents in a week. They're always working. They leave before I wake up, and they get home after I'm asleep.

I sigh and get ready for bed. I brush my teeth and put on some pajama pants, not bothering with a shirt. I like being a little cold in the winter so I can bundle into my warm blankets. And that's what I do. Soon enough, I fall asleep.

_I'm glued to the ground. I can't move any part of my body except my arms. I'm on a cliff with two cages hanging off of it. In one cage, I see Rydel, Rocky, Riker, Ratliff, Kelly, and Dez. In the other, I see the football team and the cheerleaders. Then, my worst nightmare walks in front of me. _

_ "Hello, Austin," Ally says. I narrow my eyes at her. I'm not sure why she's suddenly evil, but I don't pay attention. "These cages are connected to metal cables. In five minutes, the cables will break and the cages will fall. But, you may save one cage, therefore saving the people in it. This choice will be broadcast on television for the entire world to see. So, you have five minutes. Make your decision." _

_ I start to panic. Of course I want to save my friends, but that would mean the entire world would know I'm a total fake. Saving the football team and cheerleaders would help me keep my image and popularity. I find myself pointing to them._

_ "Good choice," Ally says. She presses a button and the cage with the football team and cheerleaders is raised up and onto the cliff. They come out of the cage and thank me. I look over at the cage with my real friends._

_ They all look shocked, but not really. It's like they knew I'd choose the populars over them. They look terrified, too. _

_ "Goodbye," Ally says to them. The cage drops, and the last thing I see is Rydel's tear-filled eyes. _

I wake up in a cold sweat, breathing heavily. I have nightmares a lot, but I've never had that one. _It was just a dream_, I tell myself. But it felt _so _real. I look at the clock. Two a.m. I could go say hi to my parents, who are probably eating dinner, but instead I go to Rydel's room. Even though I know she's fine, I need to see it for myself.

Sure enough, she's sleeping peacefully in her bed. She must subconsciously know I'm there or something, because her eyes flutter open.

"Austin, what are you doing?" she asks groggily.

"Making sure you're okay," I whisper. "I kinda had a nightmare."

"Another one?" she asks. I nod. "Wanna talk about it?" I nod and take a shaky breath as she sits up and pats the spot in her bed next to her. I sit down.

"I was on a cliff, but I couldn't move. There were two cages hanging off the cliff. In one, there was the football team and the cheerleaders. In the other, it was you and our friends. Ally came and told me that the cages were gonna drop in five minutes, but that I could save one. She said my decision would be broadcast in front of the entire world, and I didn't want anyone to know I was a fake, so I chose the team. I couldn't do anything and I just watched you guys fall," I say. By the time I'm done, my eyes are filled with tears.

"It was just a dream, Austin," Rydel tells me, rubbing my back.

"Yes, but the looks on your faces-it was like you expected it. Like you knew I'd choose them over you, and-and that was the worst part. You didn't even seem mad, just…Disappointed. And you were the last person I saw. And you were crying and terrified and hurt and-and-" I can't speak anymore because of the tears. I don't cry much, but that dream broke me. I lean on Rydel's shoulder and cry. Sometimes I forget she's only seven minutes older than me because of how much older she acts.

"Shhhh, I'm fine. Our friends are fine. Ally would never do that. That would never happen. Everything's okay," she says.

"But it's not okay, Rydel!" I exclaim in a whisper. "What if I'm faced with a choice like that? Maybe the stakes wouldn't be as high, but what if I have to choose? What if I choose them? I can't choose them, Rydel! I can't!"

"You won't. I know you, Austin. When it matters, you'd always pick your real friends. I think our argument earlier today just had you feeling guilty. Or maybe it wasn't even guilt and you were just thinking about what I said."

"I'm sorry, Rydel," I say, not processing what she said. "I'd never choose them, okay? You're more important. Don't think for a minute that I'd _ever _put them above you. I love you more than anything. You're the best sister I could ever ask for, and you put up with everything I put you through. I-I'm so sorry." I'm still crying.

"Austin, you're rambling and you're exhausted," Rydel tells me. "I think you're so tired, you aren't really processing that it was just a dream. Go back to bed and we'll talk in the morning." I nod and hug her.

"I love you, Dells," I tell her.

"Love you, too," she says, hugging me back. I get up and walk back to my room, where I collapse on my bed and fall asleep.

When I wake up the next morning, I smell pancakes. I rub my eyes and walk out to the kitchen where, sure enough, Rydel's making pancakes.

"Morning," she says. "I figured that after such a hard night, you'd want something good to wake up to." She makes the best pancakes in the world, and I don't get to eat them for breakfast a lot. I yawn.

"Thanks," I say, sitting down to eat.

"No problem. Feeling better since last night?"

"No," I reply. "I still feel guilty and scared and that any minute I'll say the wrong thing and you and the others will leave me."

"That won't happen," Rydel says. "Now eat your pancakes. There's only fifteen minutes till school starts. I'm heading out now, so I'll see you at free period." I nod.

"See ya." She grabs her keys and leaves. Yes, we each have our own car. Our parents' business is quiet successful.

I sigh and finish my pancakes. I take a quick shower, get dressed, style my hair, and brush my teeth. I'm still exhausted. Even though I fell right asleep after talking to Rydel, it was restless. I hop in my car and start the drive to school.

On the way, I see Ally struggling with her books again. I sigh in annoyance and pull over.

"C'mon," I tell her. She gets in the car without a word.

"Sorry you're driving me everywhere," she says guiltily.

"It's fine," I reply. "What are friends for?" We ride in silence, and I'm suddenly opening my eyes to Ally grabbing the steering wheel and veering the car away from an oncoming truck.

"Pull over," she says, breathing heavily. I do as she says. When we're stopped, she turns to look at me.

"What?" I ask.

"You're exhausted."

"No I'm-"

"Your eyes are bloodshot, you have dark circles, and you freaking just fell asleep on the road!" she interrupts me. "I'm driving." I nod, knowing that it's the safest thing to do. Though, I wish she wasn't driving _my _car. We switch seats and Ally drives us the rest of the way to school.

When we get there, I tell her goodbye and head to AP U.S. History. I hate it. It bores me to tears and it's about stuff I already know. I decide to take this class as an opportunity to catch up on the sleep I lost last night. Luckily, I sit behind Kelly in this class.

"Kelly," I whisper. She barely hears it.

"Yeah?" she whispers back at the same volume.

"I gotta catch up on sleep. Cover me, okay?" Kelly nods slightly and I go to sleep.

Kelly hits me in the head with our homework packet to wake me up. Not a minute later, the bell rings.

"Thanks," I mumble so no one but Kelly hears me.

"No problem," she mumbles back. I mutter a goodbye before catching up with Dallas in the hallway.

"Hey, man," he says as we walk to second period, which is woodshop. The entire football team is in that class.

"Sup," I say.

"It's so weird that you don't have any classes with anyone on the team, except woodshop," he remarks. I shrug.

"Maybe Mr. Conley knew I'd be a disruption if I was in a class with any of you guys, not that I'm not a disruption without you guys." Dallas laughs.

"I'm sure you're disrupting a lot on your own," he says. "So anyway, how's Kira?"

"Fine," I reply.

"Really?" he asks. "'Cause Ashley told me that Brianna texted her saying that Kennedy told her she overheard Brooke telling Tyler that she saw Cassidy texting Ryan about a note Jessica passed to Taylor saying that Elizabeth said Kira told her that you two are having problems," he says in one breath. It takes me a minute to process it.

"And you really believe that? Brooke is the _queen _of rumors, and Tyler's dumb enough to listen to everything Brooke says," I say. It's true. Tyler's the dumbest cheerleader there is, but she makes up for it in beauty. Curly blonde hair, ocean blue eyes, tan skin…She's basically your average 'California girl,' which makes sense because she moved to Miami from San Francisco last year.

"I know that. So, I asked Cassidy if she saw the note, but she told me Ryan texted her first about it. So I asked Ryan if _she _saw it, and she said yeah. And you know Ryan never lies," Dallas says.

I can't really argue with that. Ryan's the most decent out of the cheerleaders. She's brutally honest, pretty nice, and she doesn't really flirt throw herself at guys like the rest of them. The rest of the cheerleaders are always picking on her, and I feel kind of bad for her. I mean, she's still annoying, but I think I only feel that way because I'm associating her with the rest of the cheerleaders. They all make fun of her red hair, saying it's 'not natural.' And they say her green eyes and freckles are the ugliest things they've ever seen. Ryan's actually up there with Kira, Cassidy, and Tyler on the beauty scale.

"Well, me and Kira aren't having problems," I say. "Maybe Jessica was lying to Taylor or Elizabeth was lying to Jessica. Those girls lie a lot."

"Ryan doesn't," Dallas says.

"Why are you so hung up on Ryan? You're dating Cassidy," I say as we walk into woodshop.

"I know I'm dating Cass, but Ryan's just so…Ryan. Y'know?" Dallas says, sitting down next to me at our table.

"No," I say. "I don't. First off, you can't cheat on your girlfriend, or even _like _another girl. That's wrong. And secondly, everyone knows Ryan likes Jake."

"Yes, but Jake likes Elizabeth," Dallas argues.

"And Elizabeth likes Elliot," I tell him.

"How do you know who all the girls like?" he asks.

"Kira tells me everything. But all the girls are in love with me under their crushes on the rest of you."

"Yeah, well, you're Austin Moon. What girl _isn't _in love with you? Well, except Dorkson," Dallas says.

"None of them," I reply. Dallas laughs-I don't get what's so funny-and then the teacher starts talking.

Dallas and I actually make a pretty good team in this class. I think this is the only class he has an A in. Woodshop goes by quickly, and I head to P.E., which is uneventful.

Finally, it's lunch time. I know, having lunch fourth period is pretty early, but I don't really mind. The football team and cheerleaders all have the same lunch. I sit in my usual spot between Kira and Dallas at the lunch table.

"Hey, babe," Kira says as I sit down with my food, giving me a quick peck on the lips. I give Dallas a pointed look and he shrugs. I gag over the small kiss while no one's looking.

"Kira, we all know Austin's a babe. No need to remind us," Olivia, another cheerleader, says.

"Yeah, like, seriously," Sophie agrees.

"I know," Kira replies. "I'm just reminding you he's _my _babe." She wraps her arms around me and I just smirk.

"It's okay, ladies. There's plenty of me to go around," I say. Kira glares at me. "I mean, I'm Kira's and only Kira's." Kira smiles.

"Kira!" Katie, one of the younger cheerleaders exclaims, running up to the table.

"Ugh, it's about time you got here, Katie. I know you're young, but that's no excuse for being more than fashionably late," Kira says, rolling her eyes.

"I'm sorry," Katie apologizes. "But Sadie's having a _major _fashion crisis! She got dirt on her uniform and she doesn't have any clothes except this _awful _yellow shirt her grandma gave her before school and those gray sweats that you said are _so _last year!" Kira sighs.

"Must I do everything? Austy, I gotta go take care of this," she says. I resist wincing at the awful nickname.

"Kay. See you later, babe," I say.

"I'll miss you," she says, walking away. I don't reply. I don't speak much for the rest of lunch, as I'm busy eating.

"Hey, where were you yesterday at practice?" Jake asks me.

"Detention," I reply. "Sorry."

"It's okay, man," Ross says. "You're the captain."

"Yeah, it's not like we could kick you off the team," Ryland adds.

"Not that we want to!" Cole says quickly. Gosh, the populars are like robots that can read each other's minds. It's weird.

"Right! I mean, you're awesome," Josh says.

"Yeah," Brady says, nodding so fast his dark hair falls in his eyes.

"I know," I reply, flipping my hair. The cheerleaders swoon.

"Wow Austin, you're so…amazing," Tyler says, twirling her hair.

"Again, I know," I say, winking at her. She fans herself as Olivia and Sophie giggle next to her.

Finally, the bell rings for fifth period, ending lunch. We all say our goodbyes and head off to our next class, or in my case, free period. I walk to room C-33 and slip inside.

"Hey, you're on time!" Riker exclaims in surprise. He and Rocky are the only ones here right now because their period four class is right next to this one. Them and the rest of my friends have lunch period six.

"Yeah, well, I didn't want Ally walking into a room with a bunch of strangers without me there," I lie. In truth, I just didn't feel like talking to the football team-something that happens a lot.

"Aww, bad boy Austin has a decent side?" Rocky jokes.

"I hang with you guys, don't I?" I retort.

"It's more like the opposite," Riker says. Riker and Rocky talk like they're the same person, sort of like the cheerleaders, but not nearly as annoying. It's actually not annoying at all.

"Without us, you'd be friendless," Rocky adds.

"I'd still have Ratliff, Dez, Rydel, and Kelly. Speaking of," I say as the other four walk in. Dez and I do our signature 'What up?' handshake.

"So, when's Ally getting here?" Kelly asks. I shrug.

"I dunno. I'm gonna go look for her," I say. For the first time ever, I have to act and lie to my real friends. But they can't know I'm faking everything with Ally.

"Good idea," Kelly replies. I tell them to wait in the class while I find her. I walk out into the hallway.

"Ally?" I call quietly so I don't disturb other classes. "Where are you?" I search everywhere, until I come across another abandoned classroom. I raise an eyebrow and go inside. Sure enough, I see the familiar curled brown hair and caramel highlights.

"Ally, what are you doing in here? This isn't C-33," I say.

"I know that, Austin," she says. "I'm just…" She trails off.

"You're just…?" I coax her.

"I'm just nervous, okay? I'm not good with meeting new people. I mean, becoming friends with you wasn't as bad because even though I've been your target since the ninth grade, I still knew you. But I have no idea who your friends are. What if they hate me? What if they think I'm weird? I can't deal with the pressure, Austin! What if-"

"Ally!" I cut her off, grabbing her shoulders. She stops talking and looks up at me. "It's gonna be fine. My friends are really nice, and they can't wait to meet you." _They're the ones who forced me to hang out with you, anyway._

"Are you sure?" she asks weakly.

"Positive," I say. "Don't worry, okay? I'll be right there with you." She nods without a word. "Good," I tell her. "Now, c'mon. They'll be wondering where we are." I take her hand-which is small and sweaty and disgusting-and guide her to room C-33.

"You ready?" I ask when we're in front of the door. She takes a deep breath and nods. I open the door and lead her inside.

"I found her!" I tell my friends.

"Ally!" they exclaim, pouncing on her with introductions and questions. Ally looks terrified. As much as I enjoy seeing her suffer, I know that in order to keep the act up, I need to help her.

"Guys!" I shout. They all stop. "She's kinda shy, and I don't think _anyone _would appreciate six strangers bombarding them." My friends sheepishly back away from Ally and apologize. Ally looks at me gratefully. "Okay, now introduce yourselves _one at a time_," I instruct them.

"How's it goin', Rocky," Rocky uses his signature catchphrase, holding out his hand for Ally to shake. She shakes it uncertainly.

"I'm Riker, Rocky's twin brother," Riker says. "I'm the more mature one. And I'm smarter and better looking," he adds with a wink. Ally unknowingly blushes.

"I'm Kelly," Kelly says. "It's so nice having another girl in the group. Before, it was two girls and five guys. We're catching up to them," she says with a smile.

"Ellington Lee Ratliff," Ratliff says. "The only people who call me Ellington are my parents, although sometimes the rest of them do. But most of the time, my friends call me Ratliff." Kelly nudges him. "Oh, and I'm Kelly's boyfriend," he adds. Ally chuckles.

"I'm Dez, what's your favorite color?" Dez says. Ally raises an eyebrow and glances at me. 'I'll tell you later,' I mouth.

"Red," she replies. Dez grins.

"And I'm Rydel," Rydel says. "Girl number two in this group, Rocky's girlfriend, and Austin's twin sister."

"You have a sister?" Ally asks me in surprise. I nod.

"But no one knows except us," I say, gesturing to the group.

"And we'd like to keep it that way," Rydel adds. Ally nods.

"Well, um, I'm Ally. But I guess you guys already knew that," Ally says. "Nice to meet you all."

"Aw, she's so polite," Rocky notes. "Why is she friends with you?" he asks me. I mock hurt.

"I can be polite! Isn't that right, Ally?" I ask. She shrugs.

"I dunno. You _did _push my books out of my hands every day for three and a half years," she says. The rest of my friends 'ooh.'

"I don't understand how that was a burn," I say. "And the past is in the past, yeah? Now I'm super polite. I give her rides to and from school."

"Wow, Ally. You've changed him," Kelly says. I roll my eyes.

"I dunno if I've _changed _him exactly. He _is _still dating the _lovely _Miss Kira Starr," Ally says.

"Oh yeah, real lovely," Rydel says bitterly. Kira has made it a point on multiple occasions to spread rumors about my sister, but I've managed to get Kira to stop without making anyone suspicious.

"Wait, I thought we all hated her," Dez says, confused.

"We do," I tell him.

"You hate your own girlfriend?" Ally asks. Crap.

"It's complicated," I say, along with all my friends. "You're mocking me!" I say, as well as the rest of them. "Seriously?" we all say.

"Sorry, Austin, but you're really predictable," Ratliff says.

"More predictable than us," Rocky says, gesturing to himself and Riker.

"You guys are unpredictable," I tell them with an eyebrow raised.

"Are you kidding?" Riker asks. "I can tell exactly what he's going to say-"

"Before I say it," Rocky finishes.

"Uh, guys? It's called-" Rydel starts.

"Twin telepathy," I finish. "Rydel and I can do it, too." I turn to Ally. "You should see us all play Catchphrase. Me and Rydel and Rocky and Riker just kinda stare at each other and the other person guesses it. It's crazy."

"That sounds…interesting," Ally notes.

"It's really fun to watch," Ratliff says.

"If you want something fun to watch, try seeing this kid perform," Rocky says.

"Oh, I've seen it," Ally says.

"How? Are you a stalker? Austin, she's stalking you!" Dez exclaims.

"Dez, it's fine," I tell my friend. "We have AP Music together, so she's seen me perform in class. She's not a cheerleader."

"Oh, right," Dez replies. "The cheerleaders stalk you though."

"I know," I say.

"The fabulous life of Austin Moon," Riker says sarcastically. The others chuckle.

"Anyway," I say to Ally. "Kira and I have been having some…problems. I don't hate her. We just haven't been seeing eye-to-eye lately. But these guys hate her," I say. My friends nod.

"Oh," Ally says. I know she's still pretty confused, but I'm not about to tell her what's really going on.

"Anyway," I say, eager to change the subject, "why don't you tell them a little about yourself? I mean, I already know you-more than you probably know. I did a little research on you to find ways to torture you, metaphorically of course. I mean, I guess it was kinda torture for you, but…" I trail off.

"Gotcha. And by the way, that's really creepy," Ally says. I shrug and she turns to my friends. "Um, there isn't much about me. I love music and puns and school. That's really it."

"You love school?" Rocky asks.

"Never mind that," says Ratliff. "You love _puns_?" Ally nods.

"I know. I'm a total loser." She buries her face in her hands. Rydel and Kelly glare at their boyfriends.

"No, no, no," Kelly says. "You're not a loser."

"While it's a bit strange that you like school and puns, that doesn't make you a loser. Right, Austin?" Rydel says.

"Right," I say.

"No need to try to make me feel better. I'm a loser and I accept it," Ally says.

"Ally, you're not a loser," I say. She looks up at me.

"Really? 'Cause yesterday morning you said the exact opposite."

"Because you weremy target. I didn't mean it, I just picked on you to pick on you," I say. Ally sighs.

"You guys are sure?" she says. We all nod, but only six of us are telling the truth. She's _totally _a loser.

"Wait, one quick question," Kelly says. "Are you in love with Austin?" Ally's eyes widen comically.

"Are you kidding?" she asks. "I mean, no offense Austin, but _never _in a _million years _would I ever be _in love _with you!"

"Good," Kelly says. "You, me, and Rydel, obviously, are the only girls in the school who _aren't _in love with Austin."

"You don't love me because we've been friends since we were kids," I tell Kelly. I went to elementary school with all my real friends, and Kelly's the only one-other than Rydel, obviously-who didn't fall in love with me. Not sure why, but I'm happy she didn't. She and Ratliff make a good couple.

"And Ally, I think you'll fall in love with me eventually. Kelly's the only girl-other than Rydel-who finds it physically impossible to fall in love with me. Trust me, you'll fall," I say.

"In your dreams, Moon," Ally says.

"More like in _your _dreams. You're gonna end up dreaming about me. Just you wait," I reply.

"Guys, a little help?" Ally says, gesturing to my friends. Riker shrugs.

"Austin may be a conceited jerk-" he starts.

"But girls fall in love with him like that," Rocky finishes, snapping his fingers to prove his point.

"Have you seen the girls looking at him in the hallways?" Ratliff asks.

"He's a-what's the word-'dream boat'," Dez says.

"Rydel? Kelly?" Ally asks.

"I hate to say it, but my brother's pretty hot. If we weren't related I'd probably be in love with him," Rydel says. I smirk.

"Even _I've _had the Austin dream once," Kelly admits.

"When was this?" Ratliff asks her. Kelly coughs awkwardly.

"Last week," she mutters. I start cracking up. Ratliff's eyes widen.

"Face it, E-Rat," I say, using a funny nickname I made up when we were in fifth grade, "no one can resist me."

"I'm sorry, but he posted that shirtless picture on Instagram…" Kelly says.

"And my abs were too much for your weak girl mind to handle," I state.

"Either way, I said I dreamed about you. I never said I was in love with you. My 'weak girl mind' was strong enough to overcome it. All I had to do was think of Ell and I didn't even remember your name until two hours later," Kelly says. Ratliff smirks and puts his arm around her.

"Okay, we're back to normal," he says. Just then, the bell rings.

"And that's our cue to leave," I say.

"Nice meeting you guys!" Ally says.

"You too," my friends chorus. We all walk out of the classroom at different intervals so no one notices that I was with them. I sigh as I head to Calculus. Have I mentioned I _really _hate that class?

* * *

**Yeah, I don't really like the ending. So, I saw this guy I know twerking and it scarred me for life. Like it was horrifying. Luckily it was only for like a second so I lived. If you liked this chapter, put HAPPY in a review! If you thought it was okay, put BIRTHDAY in a review! If you hated it, put ROSS in a review! Still can't believe my baby is 18... Anywhoozles, I still need disclaimer prompts. You guys are doing good, keep the prompts coming! So yeah, thanks for reading and please review! Love you all more than the cheerleaders love Austin!**

**~Maddie :)**

**P.S. Sorry if there are any bad typos or something. My computer's being dumb.**

**Maddie's Fancy Disclaimers: Part III Continued**

***The group including the rhino chase me to my house***

**Ross: Maddie... are you being serious? **

**Me: *Turns around with tears in my eyes* Why wouldn't I be? **

**Rocky: But, you can't just _stop _shipping.**

**Riker: Shipping and fangirling are what makes you, _you_.**

**Me: Well, being best friends and a family is what makes _you_, you. And this isn't what best friends and family looks like. **

**Rydel: Maddie-**

**Me: Save it. I don't ship anyone anymore. End of story.**

**Laura: What about Megan? What will you say to her? **

**Me: *Shrugs***

**Stormie: Maddie, sweetie, think about this.**

**Mark: This isn't just a spur of the moment decision. This has to take some thought.**

**Me: Ships don't require thinking! Shipping people is something you feel in your heart. And seeing how these ships are tearing you guys apart, I'm not feeling them anymore.**

**Ratliff: Maddie, this is crazy.**

**Ross: Yeah, what happened to that excited, hyper girl who was my agent way back when? **

**Ryland: I remember you saying something about that! Maddie, what happened to fangirl syndrome?**

**Me: *Shrugs sadly* I was cured. *Turns and walks into my house* **

***Everyone looks at each other***

**Rhino: By the way, Maddie doesn't own Austin & Ally, Instagram, or anything else you recognize. **

**Everyone Else: Shut up! This isn't the time for disclaimers!**

**Rhino: But this _is _a disclaimer. Like, literally.**

**Rydel: Just eat your pineapple!**

**Laura: Okay, guys, we have to think. How will we get Maddie back? We don't have her ships on our side anymore.**

**Ross: This just got a whole lot harder. **

**Ratliff: We need to get her shipping again.**

**Mark: But how?**

**Stormie: Yeah, she's devastated. **

**Rocky: Yeah, I can see her crying in her room.**

**Riker: *slaps Rocky***

**Ryland: Are you guys really that stupid? Isn't it obvious what we have to do? **

***Everyone looks confused***

**Rhino: WAR!**

**Ryland: ...No. Eat your pineapple and shut up. **

**Rhino: *Eats pineapple and shuts up***

**Ryland: Anyway, we just have to give her a feels overload. **

**Rocky: That could work...**

**Stormie and Mark: Good thinking, son.**

**Ross: She'll have to come back!**

**Rydel: Feels always make people remember their ships!**

**Laura: Yeah! You should see me when I get Romione feels...**

**Ross: It's terrifying. **

**Ratliff: RYLAND YOU'RE A GENIUS!**

**Riker: But how are we gonna get her to have a feels overload? And we only need to give her one ship's feels overload. **

***Ross and Laura look at each other***

**Ross and Laura: We know what to do. **

***Ryland manages to hook the TV in my room up to a camera that's filming Ross and Laura* **

**Ryland: Turning the TV on...now. *He turns on the TV to the camera filming Ross and Laura***

**Ross: Ally, I need to tell you something.**

**Me: *Looks at TV* I didn't know there was a new episode. *Wipes tears and watches***

**Laura: Yeah, Austin? **

**Ross: I-I...Can't say it.**

**Laura: C'mon, you can tell me anything. How bad could it be? I mean, it's not like you're _in love _with me or anything! *laughs***

**Ross: Actually...**

**Laura: Wait, you're not... **

**Ross: *Shrugs nervously* But I am. Look, Ally. I know we tried and it didn't work out. We were young then. It's been almost a year, and I'm still not over you. I don't think I ever will be. _Please _take me back. I love you... More than I've ever loved anything before. I can't stop thinking about you.**

**Laura: Austin... I-I don't know what to say.**

**Ross: Then say yes. We can try again. It won't be awkward. I just know we're meant to be together. Can we give it another shot? **

**Laura: *Smiles* Yes. **

**Ross: *Grins and picks her up and twirls her***

***When he sets her down, they lean in and kiss for 30 seconds unblocked.***

**Me: *Sobbing with feels* *Realizes I made a huge mistake trying to stop shipping***

***I run outside***

**Me: I'm sorry! I should've never stopped shipping! Shipping is my life and I love you guys more than anything!**

***They all smile***

**Ross: We're sorry too. The ships went to our heads and things got out of hand. We never should've tried to make you choose because both ships are great. We love you too.**

***We all group hug***

**Rhino: No war? I'm out. *Explodes into a bunch of pineapple pieces***

**The End**


	5. I Confess My Love

**Man, guys, I'm updating pretty quickly. I wrote most of this chapter really late last night, so I'm not sure how good it is, but whatever. Also HAPPY NEW YEARS EVE! Ummmm I don't really have much else to say. No one gave me a prompt and I'm not creative enough to do a disclaimer on my own, so yeah. I SHALL NOT DISCLAIM THIS CHAPTER! But guys I need prompts. Okay, so I just read an old chapter of Taken that only has 4 days left in my doc manager and it's like chapter 9 I think. It's the one where they get back together and the cannibalism and stuff. So I read it and I've changed a lot in 3 months like seriously that chapter is so random I'm like 'What's even going on here?'**** Anywhoozles, READ ON!**

* * *

**I Confess My Love**

I get to Calculus two minutes late and the teacher starts yelling at me. I sit down calmly and wait for him to finish.

"So, detention?" I ask. He nods angrily.

"One more time and you'll be suspended!" I roll my eyes.

"Yeah, yeah," I say. "Just take us into the beautiful world of Calculus that I'm sure we're all eager to enter." Mr. Jones sighs exasperatedly.

"I just collected the homework. I don't assume you have yours?" I smirk and shake my head.

"That's what I thought," he mutters. Then he starts talking about another lesson I already know. I glance over at Ally and see she's taking notes. I roll my eyes and take out a sticky note.

_Why are you taking notes if you already know the lesson?_

I wait until Mr. Jones turns to the board and slip the paper onto her desk. Hey, I know I hate her-trust me, I know-but I'm desperate for entertainment. She's the only 'friend' I have in this class, though I'd rather be friends with Nose-Picker Nathan than her. Ally looks at the paper and scribbles a reply.

_What makes you think I already know it?_

I roll my eyes and write a response when Mr. Jones isn't looking.

_Please, you're the smartest one in this class. If I know the lesson, so do you. _

_Yeah, how do you know the lesson?_

_Who do you think is the second smartest in the class? Just 'cause I'm the bad boy, doesn't mean I'm not smart._

_Oh, I'm sure. _

_But you can't tell anyone._

_Wouldn't dream of it. Anyway, I'm not taking notes. I'm starting on the songs for music. _

"Mr. Moon and Miss Dawson, passing notes now?" Mr. Jones asks. If he catches kids passing notes, he reads them to the class. No way am I letting that happen.

"No, sir," I reply. "Why would I talk to _her_?" I sneak a glance at her and give her a look like 'just go with it.'

"You talked to her yesterday, even helped her." I sigh.

"Alright, fine. You caught me," I reply. "I was hitting on her. But she hates me, surprisingly." Mr. Jones raises an eyebrow. "Sorry, I can't help myself. She's _gorgeous_. I'm a teenage boy." I shrug as if saying 'What can ya do?'"

"Well, no more _hitting _on Miss Dawson," Mr. Jones says. "You already have detention." He goes back to teaching.

I took a huge risk saying I was hitting on Ally. The bad boy hitting on his target, the nerd of the school? If anyone important finds out, they'll obviously think I'm being serious. Luckily, it's only nerds in that class, other than me, so they won't have anyone to tell except each other. I just hope Kira doesn't find out, like she always does. I take out another sticky note.

_Obviously you're not very experienced in the art of note-passing._

_Obviously you're not very experienced in obeying a teacher's commands._

* * *

I thought Calculus would never end. Having only Dorkson to entertain me was _torture_. Unfortunately, now I have to work on a song with her for an hour. I take my time walking to AP music. Ally's waiting outside the door when I get there. The classroom is in the oldest building in the school, and it's really far away from the main part of the school. No one can see us. I hear the bell ring.

"C'mon, we're late," I tell her, wondering why she didn't go in.

"It's locked," she says. I try the door and realize she's right. "Mrs. Adagio is probably out for lunch with her husband. You know how newlyweds are." Ally rolls her eyes as if she's a parent.

"Well, he better have her back soon or I'm gonna have to talk to him," I joke. Ally laughs. "But seriously," I say. "We have a song to work on."

"Yeah," Ally replies. "And if she's gone for more than fifteen minutes, we're allowed to leave. Knowing her, she'll probably be here around the ten minute mark." Ally sits on the ground against the wall and pats the spot next to her. I sit down.

"So, I'm guessing I shouldn't tell your girlfriend you were hitting on me," she says, nudging me with her shoulder.

"Ha-ha," I say. "You know, I saved you from detention with my quick thinking. You're welcome."

"But now everyone in that class thinks you were hitting on me."

"Exactly!" I exclaim. "All the girls in that class are gonna wish they were you, seeing as how you're the only girl who _isn't _in love with me, that they know of."

"True," she replies. "But what if they start, like, beating me up to eliminate the competition?"

"Please," I reply, "they know I'd never go for them. I only like cheerleaders, and, like, half of the girls in that class are my friends' targets."

"But you 'hitting' on me might've given them hope."

"You'll be fine, Ally. By the way, you don't think word of me 'hitting' on you will get around, right?"

"Trust me, we nerds have no one to tell. I'm lucky to have Trish. None of us would even _dream _of having another seven friends, other than our best friend."

"Speaking of, she doesn't know about our friendship, right?" I ask.

"I keep my promises, Austin. She doesn't know anything." I sigh in relief. "So, did you really mean what you said about me being…you know, gorgeous?" I swallow the 'no' that I almost said.

"Of course," I say. Ally blushes and smiles shyly. Just then, Mrs. Adagio walks up frantically.

"Sorry, guys!" she exclaims. "I was out at lunch and I lost track of time." She unlocks the door and we all walk into the classroom.

"It's okay," Ally says.

"Okay," Mrs. Adagio says when Ally and I are seated, "I don't have anything to say, so you guys have the rest of the period to work on the duet love song. The instruments are yours to use, yadda, yadda, yadda." We nod and Mrs. Adagio starts reading some novel at her desk.

"So, what should the love song be about?" Ally asks. I shrug.

"Love." She rolls her eyes.

"That helps. Something more specific," she says.

"I dunno. I don't believe in love, remember?" She sighs.

"Right. Okay, well, pretend." I sigh.

"Fine. What if we make it about how sappy girls are when they're in love?" Ally gives me a look. "Alright, alright," I say. "How about we write it about how, when you're in love, you'll do anything for that person. Anything they need, you'll be that. They'll never be alone because you'll be there."

"That's…a really good idea," Ally says, a bit surprised.

"Yeah, I get those sometimes," I reply.

"No, I didn't mean-"

"I'm just messing with you. I'm the bad boy. My judgment isn't always the best, and I'm okay with it. Calm down."

"Anyway, we need music first."

"Right," I say. I grab an acoustic guitar and play a tune that's been stuck in my head for a while.

"That's good!" Ally exclaims. "Then, we can add something like this maybe later in the song," she says. She plays a beat on a tambourine.

"Yeah," I agree. "I don't think we need much more than that." She nods in agreement.

"Now for lyrics."

"Uh oh," I say. She laughs.

"It's not that hard," she says. I raise an eyebrow at her. "For me." I mock hurt.

"Ouch," I say.

"Anyway, lyrics," she says, getting back on track.

"Right." I grab a small, squishy ball from a shelf. Mrs. Adagio thinks that playing with a ball helps the creative flow. And I'm really bored. I start throwing it in the air and catching it.

"Austin, don't break anything," Mrs. Adagio says, not looking up from her book.

"I'm the captain of the football team," I reply. "I'm fine." Mrs. Adagio chuckles. I'm pretty sure she's the only teacher who doesn't hate me.

"Austin, any ideas?" Ally asks. I shrug.

"Ummm….. If you need something, I'll be it. 'Cause I'm not about to quit," I try.

"Not bad, for you," Ally says.

"But it's not good," I remark. She shrugs. That's when the bell rings.

"Have a good rest of the day," Mrs. Adagio says.

"You too," Ally and I reply.

"That was weird," I say. She nods.

"Well, see you tomorrow," she says. I nod and head to AP English, where nothing really happens. After that, I head home, ditching detention.

"No detention today?" Rydel asks when I walk in the house. I nod.

"I just ditched it," I say. She rolls her eyes.

"What for _today_?"

"Being two minutes late for Calculus. And he probably would've added an extra hour for hitting on Ally." Rydel's eyes widen comically. I laugh. "We were passing notes and I didn't want him to read them to the class 'cause it mentioned our friendship and the fact I take music, so I just said I was hitting on her."

"You do realize now everyone in that class thinks you like Ally when they already know you're dating Kira?" Rydel says. I nod.

"Yeah, but they're nerds. Better for them to believe a lie and not tell anyone than for them to know the truth and not tell anyone. Since no one important will find out, I don't really care at this point."

"Kira always finds out," Rydel says. I shrug.

"If she finds out, she might dump me. But she probably wouldn't tell anyone I was supposedly cheating on her if she found out-she'd be too embarrassed. She'd probably say she got tired of me, and I'd move on to another cheerleader. But she probably won't even find out, considering she doesn't associate with nerds, which that class is filled with. Well, all except me. And Ally," I add quickly.

"True," Rydel says.

"So," I say, "how much do you wanna bet Ally will dream about me tonight?" I ask.

"There's no way," Rydel says. "She won't have it for _at least _another week." I shrug.

"Then I'll owe you." Rydel thinks for a moment.

"Thirty bucks," she says. "I'll ask her privately tomorrow. You know how well I can tell if people are lying." _Obviously not_, I think to myself. "If she does dream about you tonight, I'll know and I'll pay up. But, if she doesn't, you owe me. Deal?" She holds out her hand and I shake it.

"Deal," I say confidently.

"So how was school?" she asks. I shrug.

"You?" I ask. Rydel grins.

"Amazing. Perfect. Fantastic!" she exclaims. I raise an eyebrow.

"Okay, what happened?" I ask. Rydel smiles even wider.

"Rocky _finally _kissed me!" she exclaims happily. My eyes widen.

"_What_?! When?!" I ask.

"On the way to lunch!" she replies.

"B-but he promised…" I say. I'm really protective of my sister. Like, imagine the most protective big brother you can think of, make him seven minutes younger than his sister, and multiply his protectiveness by a thousand and you've probably got about what I'm like.

Even though I trust Rocky completely, I still don't really like anyone dating my sister. I made Rocky promise he wouldn't kiss Rydel until we graduate. I know, it's a lot to ask and I should've expected him to break the promise. But I don't know, I just kind of hoped he wouldn't. But this was their first kiss, as far as I know, and I kissed Kira on our first date, so I shouldn't really be saying anything.

"C'mon, Austin. You know you're too protective. Just be happy for me," she says. "I appreciate it, but I'm seventeen and technically older than you. I really don't need it."

"I can't help that I'm protective of you," I say.

"I know," Rydel says with a sigh. "At least you care," she says. I nod.

"Yeah. If I stopped being protective, then it would mean I stopped caring, and that will never happen." Rydel smiles.

"Good," she says. She wraps her arms around my neck and I hug her back. When we pull away, she says, "But don't beat up Rocky tomorrow." I chuckle.

"Fine," I say. Rydel does her homework and we don't really do much the rest of the night. I still haven't seen my parents in a week, but I know I have to go to bed. I sigh as I bundle myself in the blankets and let sleep overcome me.

I wake up from another nightmare. I can't really remember it, but I don't really care. Luckily, it's morning so I don't have to try to fall asleep again. I walk into the kitchen and make myself some cereal before quickly getting ready for school.

On my way, I see Ally walking again. I pull over.

"You really need a car," I tell her. She nods.

"My dad drives the car to work every day so I can never use it, and some of your friends take the bus," she says. I nod.

"Well, this seems to be working pretty well, for the two days we've done it." She nods.

"So how was detention?" she asks.

"I ditched," I say flatly.

"You know you're just gonna get more detention," she says.

"Not if I tell the teacher I was trying to win you over," I say. "He's an old guy who's been rejected a million times. If he hears my _tragic _love story about how I'm after the only girl who _isn't _already in love with me, he'll have to let me off the hook."

"That won't work," Ally says. "Mr. Jones hates you."

"But he'll feel sympathy. Trust me, Ally. I just gotta give the heartbroken puppy eyes and tell him how I chased you after school, begging you to go out with me. And then I'll say I was too busy thinking about you to remember detention."

"I'm _not _gonna be your scapegoat. And aren't you worried about people thinking you like me?" Ally says.

"Yes you will. And I know the nerds wouldn't tell anyone, except maybe Kira. But she wouldn't tell anyone I'm supposedly cheating on her. She'd make up a different story if she dumps me. And then I'd just ask out another cheerleader," I explain.

"Not a bad plan," Ally says. I smirk. "But I won't go along with it."

"Please Ally?" I ask when we're at a stoplight.

"No." I give her puppy dog eyes and we have a short staring contest. Something in her face changes and her head tilts slightly. Then, she shakes her head as if clearing her thoughts.

"Pretty please?" She makes the mistake of looking in my eyes again and I can practically see her will melting.

"Fine," she mutters. "Stupid dreamy eyes," I hear her say under her breath.

"What was that?" I ask.

"Nothing!" she exclaims. I smirk.

"I know my eyes are dreamy, Ally. No need to be shy about noticing." I see her roll her eyes as the light turns green. I turn into the school parking lot and we get out.

"See you in free period," I say. She nods and we split up. She's fun to mess with. I mean, I like really picking on her as the bad boy, but the play bickering we have as friends is just as fun.

Luckily, Kira didn't hear about my little act in Calculus, and we're still the 'happy' couple the school looks up to. Free period comes around soon, but I get stopped by Dallas after lunch.

"Dude, I think I wanna dump Cass," he says.

"That's not a good idea," I tell him. "You're my best friend, and Cassidy's Kira's best friend. It's, like, an ancient law that the top guy's best friend and top girl's best friend date. You don't want to break an ancient law, do you?"

"No, no I guess not," he says. I pat him on the back.

"Good. Well, I gotta go ditch home ec. See you later," I say. Dallas nods and we walk in opposite directions. Thank goodness Dallas is such an idiot, he believes all that ancient law stuff.I head to room C-33 and see everyone except Rydel and Ally.

"Late again, Mr. Moon," Ratliff says, impersonating a teacher. I roll my eyes.

"Where are Rydel and Ally?" I ask. My friends shrug.

"Something about talking to Ally privately?" Riker says. "I will _never _understand your sister."

"Speaking of," I say, "I heard you broke your promise." I look at Rocky. He looks nervous.

"Sorry?" he says. "Look, we were walking to class, and we were under that cement overhang and there was no one around and I was caught in the moment. I'm sorry, man. I deserve whatever beating up you're about to give me."

"You're just lucky I trust you," I tell him. He looks relieved.

"You're just lucky Delly would kill him if he beat you up," Kelly corrects me, using a nickname my friends have for Rydel.

"Yeah, and then we'd have a beat up Rocky and a dead Austin," Dez says. We all give him looks. Speaking of, I never told Ally about him. I'll have to tell her today so she doesn't call a mental institution.

Suddenly, Ally walks back in the room, followed by Rydel, who has a disappointed look on her face. She stands next to me and hands me money from behind our backs. I smirk.

"So Ally-" I start, but Kelly beats me to the question.

"Have you had the dream yet?" she asks. Ally raises an eyebrow.

"Of course not," Ally replies. "And I never will. Look guys, if you all think I'm gonna fall in love with Austin, you're mistaken. While I'm open to the friendship, he's hurt me far too much for me to ever fall in love with him."

"Uh huh," I say doubtfully. "I think my dreamy eyes are seeing something different."

"His eyes are pretty dreamy," Dez notes.

"I didn't dream about him, and I'm not gonna fall in love with him!" Ally exclaims exasperatedly.

"Really?" I say.

"Austin-" Rydel tries.

"Because I think these thirty dollars Rydel gave me for winning the bet are saying something otherwise," I say, ignoring Rydel and showing Ally the money.

"What bet?" Everyone except me and Rydel asks.

"I bet Rydel thirty bucks that Ally would dream of me last night. But I forced her into it, 'cause Rydel would never stoop so low of her own free will," I add, not wanting anyone to be mad at my sister but wanting to see Ally's reaction.

"So you _told _him?" she asks Rydel.

"Well, um-" Rydel starts.

"Don't be mad at Rydel," Rocky says.

"Austin can be pretty persuasive," Riker says.

"Yeah, one time he got me to eat dirt," Dez adds.

"Dez, you did that on your own," Ratliff tells him.

"Oh, yeah," Dez says.

"Anyway, don't be ashamed, Ally. It's not that bad," Kelly tells the brunette.

"I'm not _ashamed_, I just-"

"You just didn't want me knowing I was right," I finish. "Well, I was. And don't think I didn't see you getting lost in my eyes this morning. Face it, you're falling for me and there's nothing you can do about it," I say with a smile, sticking my tongue between my teeth.

"I'm _not _falling for you!" Ally exclaims. "Look, if we're just gonna talk about feelings that aren't there, I may as well leave."

"We're done talking about it!" Rydel says before Ally can walk out the door. "Right Austin?"

"What makes you think-" Rydel gives me a look. "I would want to keep talking about feelings that aren't there? What feelings?" I finish nervously. Ally sighs, but doesn't leave.

"There," Rydel says. "Now hug and make up," she instructs. I roll my eyes because I _really _don't want to hug Ally, but I do as Rydel says. I know Rydel would be _very _angry if I didn't. Ally and I have a short, awkward hug.

"Did anyone else sense the awkward?" Dez asks when we pull away. Everyone raises their hands, including me and Ally.

"I also sensed something else," I say. Rydel and Ally give me looks. "Sorry, sorry, couldn't help myself. I know you could never _actually _be in love with me, Ally." She nods. As funny as it would be, I know she wasn't lying when she said I hurt her too much for her to fall in love with me. I can't help but feel a little disappointed. I won't be able to say _every _girl has been in love with me. I never count Kelly because she's Kelly, and obviously I don't count my own sister. The bell rings before we can start another conversation. We all say our goodbyes and head to our next classes.

I sit down in Calculus and prepare my sob story. But first, I walk up to Ally.

"Don't forget to play along," I whisper in her ear.

"I'm not gonna help you get out of something you deserve," she snaps. I sigh.

"Look, I'm sorry about the whole thing with the dream. I didn't know it would get to you so much. But I _really _need to get out of detention. _Please _help?" I ask, giving her more puppy dog eyes. She sighs.

"Fine. But you can't just give me puppy eyes whenever you want something. Eventually, I'll become immune to them."

"Please," I say. "I've been using them on my sister for the past seventeen years. If she's not immune to them yet, you'll never become immune. But thanks for the warning," I add with a playful wink. Ally rolls her eyes and we sit down just as the bell rings.

"Mr. Moon, you were not at detention yesterday, therefore you have double time today," Mr. Jones says lazily.

"Wait, wait. Please, Mr. Jones. You have to understand. I completely forgot about detention. I had…" I glance at Ally, "other things on my mind."

"Like what, Mr. Moon?" I act nervous and shy.

"Ally," I mutter.

"I can't hear you. Speak up," Mr. Jones says.

"Ally," I say louder. "I can't stop thinking about her. And after school I tried asking her out, but I couldn't find her, and I looked for her for hours before I finally found her at the mall. All that was on my mind was finding her and seeing if she'd go out with me." I look at her like a lovesick puppy. "But she refused. She said I was too much of a bad boy, and-and…" I trail off as my eyes fill with fake tears.

"Miss Dawson, is this true?" Mr. Jones asks Ally. She looks at me and I nod at her. Ally nods.

"I'm sorry I was the cause of him not coming to detention, Mr. Jones," Ally says. Mr. Jones sighs.

"Alright. Mr. Moon, you're free of punishment. But next time, please don't let some girl clog your mind," Mr. Jones says.

"She's not some girl!" I exclaim before letting my head fall on my desk.

"Um," Mr. Jones says, not sure of what to do. "You two, go talk this out in the hallway. I can't have Mr. Moon disrupting my class." He hands Ally and me hall passes and we walk out into the hallway.

"Wow," I say when we get out the door, "I know I was good, but not _this _good."

"I didn't even think it would work," Ally says in bewilderment. Then she chuckles. "You look like you've been crying for the past three hours."

"Try the last five minutes," I say, wiping my eyes.

"Well, I'm sorry, but you're just too much of a bad boy for me, Austin," Ally says. "There's no way I would go out with you. Or fall in love with you."

"Ha-ha," I say. "But when you get in trouble and I manage to get you out using this little scheme, you'll be thanking me. As for the falling in love part, I told you. I'm just teasing."

"So, how long should we 'talk this out'?" Ally asks. I shrug.

"The rest of the period. Technically, it's not ditching, and I don't feel like going back in there. Especially after my little tantrum," I tell her. She nods. Just then, we hear footsteps coming down the hall. "Hide!" I whisper out of habit.

"Austin, we have hall passes."

"Oh, right." But the person who comes down the hall isn't a teacher.

"Austin?!" Kira screeches.

"Kira," I say, faking excitement. "What are you doing here? I thought you had cheer during this hour." The cheerleaders have practice as an elective, but they all hate the coach.

"I'm taking a 'bathroom break.' But that doesn't matter. What are you doing out here with _her_?" Kira asks.

"He-" Ally starts.

"Shut up, Dorkson," I say. "I was just pulling her out of class so I could pick on her without witnesses. You know, more stuff I can get away with." Kira nods.

"Whatever. Anyway, I was actually about to do the same thing with that blonde girl. What's her name…Riley?"

"Kira, I told you. Her mom is the head of a modeling agency. The best one in Miami. If you bully her daughter, there's no way you'll be able to become a model," I say. Kira sighs.

"You're right, babe," she says. "Thanks." Then, she gives Ally a sideways glance. Before I can do anything, Kira grabs my shirt and starts full-on making out with me. Luckily, it only lasts a few seconds before she pulls away.

"Remember, Dorkson," she says. "You're a nerd, and I'm the queen. King Austin is _mine_." With that, she turns on her six-inch heel and walks away.

"She obviously doesn't know about the whole 'only girl who isn't in love with you' thing," Ally says weakly.

"And now you're scarred for life," I say. Ally nods.

"I really didn't need to see that." She fixes my now wrinkled shirt. "Does that happen a lot?" I shake my head.

"No. But she wanted to mark her territory. A.K.A. King Austin," I say, pointing to myself. "Good thing you're not in love with me, yeah?" I say.

"Yeah," Ally replies. I shudder. "You okay?" Ally asks.

"Kira wears _way _too much lip gloss." Ally laughs.

"Well, she _is _the queen," she says.

"And I'm the king. And as the king, I should not have to swallow three gallons of lip gloss," I say. Just then, the bell rings. "See ya in music," I tell Ally. She nods and we go in opposite directions to the same class.

On the way, I'm stopped by Kira.

"Hey," I say. "Where's Cass?"

"Never mind that," Kira snaps, but then decides to tell me. "With Dallas. The other girls are in their next class. Anyway, because you and Dorkson seemed so buddy-buddy today, I asked one of Ally's nerd friends what the deal was. First she said you were in _Calculus_." I shrug.

"I'm failing, but Mr. Jones was the only teacher who'd take me for a math class," I lie.

"Okay, but that's not the important thing. The nerd I talked to said that in Calculus, you confessed your undying love for Dorkson," Kira says. I have two options. Go along with the undying love thing, or tell Kira I just wanted to get out of detention. Knowing her, she'd brag to the nerds about how wrong they were, and then the nerds would tell Mr. Jones, resulting in more detention. Going along with the undying love it is, then.

"Uhhh…" I act as though I'm not sure what to say.

"Austin," Kira whispers so no one hears, "she's your target. _Target_! She's a dork and a geek and a nerd and the king of the school _can't _love a nerd! You know the social system is fragile. Luckily, the nerds aren't telling anyone else, but what if I do?"

"But you won't," I say, "because that would mean other people knowing I like someone else more than you." Kira sighs.

"Well, I can't date you knowing you like Dorkson, so we have to break up."

"Fine by me. I like Ally, remember?" I say.

"Right, so what's our story?" I shrug.

"You make one up, and I'll go along with it. Everyone will still love me anyway-including you." Kira sighs and looks at me exasperatedly.

"You're _really _frustrating."

"I just state the truth."

"Well, that doesn't mean-"

"Cheerleader alert," I cut her off. She immediately starts kissing me. While it's disgusting, the cheerleaders-or anyone for that matter-can't know about this little conversation.

"Um, Kira?" Sadie says, tapping Kira's shoulder. We pull away to see Katie and Sadie nervously standing in front of us.

"Girls," Kira snaps, "what's rule number seven?" I have no idea what they're talking about, but then again I never do.

"Never interrupt a make-out sesh," the two cheerleaders say together.

"It's fine, ladies," I say. "I actually gotta get to class or I'll get suspended. Talk to you later, babe," I say to Kira. She nods and I run off to music.

I walk in the classroom just as the bell finishes ringing. I see Mrs. Adagio giving me a look.

"I _should _give you a tardy, but Ally told me about your little 'escape plan' and I'm guessing you're having girlfriend troubles?" Mrs. Adagio says. I glare at Ally.

"So much for not telling anyone," I mutter. But I know I can trust Mrs. Adagio. The two girls laugh. Then, Ally gets serious.

"And so much for not picking on me anymore," she says. Mrs. Adagio backs out of the classroom while we talk.

"I'm sorry, Ally. I panicked, okay?" She can't be mad. Then, the others will know I'm a fake and I'll have no one.

"Well, now she knows you don't like me," Ally says bitterly.

"Actually, one of the nerds told her about it. I told her the only reason I'm in Calculus is because no other teacher would take me. And then I went along with the whole being in love thing because it was easiest. As soon as Kira comes up with a fake story of why she's breaking up with me, we're gonna split." Ally smiles slightly, but it quickly goes away.

"You don't seem too upset." I shrug.

"There are plenty of cheerleaders at the pep rally, as the old saying goes," I say. Ally raises an eyebrow.

"Your life is just full of lies, isn't it?"

"You have no idea," I reply. "I'm the bad boy. It's what I do."

"But you're honest with me and the others, right?" I swallow hard. For some reason, it's getting harder to lie to her, but gradually easier to fake this friendship.

"Right."

* * *

**I like this chapter. I dunno why but yeah. I wonder what's going on with Austin... It's kinda obvious, but I promise HE'S NOT IN LOVE WITH HER AND HE DOENS'T LIKE HER! So, you should probably be able to guess what's going on now. In a review, tell me your favorite part and what you think will happen next! And don't forget to give me disclaimer prompts! I just saw a FedEx truck... Anywhoozles, if you liked the chapter, put KIRA in a review. If you thought it was okay, put CASSIDY in a review. If you hated it, put SADIE in a review! Thanks for reading and please review! Love you more than I love dessert!**

**~Maddie :)**


	6. Maybe Friendship Isn't So Bad

**Hey guys! First of all, if you didn't already know, MysteryMe317 is having a competition for best Austin & Ally story of 2013, and my stories Forgotten and Taken have been nominated! *Audience cheers* I'm really really REALLY excited! So, anyway, it would mean SOOO much to me if you went and voted for my stories! I'm not entirely sure exactly how, and I'm sorry for that, but the directions are on MysteryMe317's profile and the story she posted, so you can look there. Even if you haven't read them, I would still really appreciate it if you'd vote for them! I'm counting on you guys! **

**Now for the disclaimer! The prompt is from blackandblue13: Ross is telling Laura a bunch of jokes and she's laughing really hard and then Ratliff tries to tell Rydel a joke but he fails. Please include the pineapple eating rhino, an evil flying toaster whose defense is bread, the surprised llama from one of the Taken disclaimers, and Severus Snape (if you haven't read Harry Potter, just use a potato). Wow. These prompts are getting quite long and detailed. But that's okay XD. And who hasn't read Harry Potter? Though potatoes are quite fancy. Potato: You better believe it. *Sassy snap and head bob* Me: Wow, sassy potato. OKAY DISCLAIMER TIME!**

**Maddie's Fancy Disclaimers: Part IV**

***Me, Ross, Laura, Ratliff, and Rydel are in Ross's dressing room. (Don't ask where the others are. I'd rather not speak of it.)***

**Ross: So, what did the banana give to the monkey? A banana!**

***Laura starts cracking up and I laugh a little too***

**Ross: What do you get when you cross a dog and a telephone? A golden receiver!**

***Laura and I laugh harder***

**Ross: What do you call an owl's beak? Who knows?!**

***I laugh harder and Laura literally loses it* **

**Ratliff: Hey, Rydel, why'd the chicken cross the road? To get to the other side! *Starts laughing***

**Rydel: *With a dead expression* That sucked. **

***Ratliff looks kinda upset* **

***Ross and I try to calm Laura down***

**Ross: C'mon, Laura it wasn't _that _funny.**

**Ratliff: AT LEAST SHE LAUGHS AT YOUR JOKES!**

**Ross: 'Cause my jokes are funny. **

**Ratliff: NO THEY'RE NOT!**

**Ross: THEY ARE TO HER!**

**Me: Uh oh... **

***Laura finally stops laughing as the window breaks* **

***A rhino jumps through it***

**Rhino: Do I sense...WAR?**

**Ross: Not you again...**

***Rhino goes to the mini fridge and grabs a pineapple and starts eating it***

**Rhino: My presence is a blessing.**

**Me: Ummm... Last time we saw you, the Lynches were at war, I was almost forced to choose between Raura and Rydellington, and I stopped shipping entirely.**

**Rhino: Eh, it was good for you. **

***Ratliff covers my ears***

**Ratliff: SHHHH! HER SHIPPINGNESS IS THE ONLY REASON RYDEL AND I ARE TOGETHER!**

***Rydel raises an eyebrow* **

**Laura: Rhino, all you care about is war.**

**Rhino: That's MR. Rhino to you, pipsqueak.**

**Laura: I'm not a pipsqueak! I'm petite!**

**Rhino: Same difference. **

**Me: Ratliff, get your hands off my ears. **

***Ratliff does as I say* **

**Me: Anyway- **

***I'm cut off when I get hit in the head with a piece of bread* **

***I fall to the floor, unconscious***

**Ross: What the-**

***A toaster flies in through the broken window***

**Toaster: NOW THAT THE AUTHOR IS UNCONSCIOUS, ALL I HAVE TO DO IS STUFF ENOUGH BREAD DOWN HER THROAT TO CHOKE HER AND KILL HER! THEN I WILL TAKE HER AUTHOR-Y POWERS AND RULE THE WORLD! Or, at least her little fanfiction world.**

***Ratliff, Ross, Laura, and Rydel make a circle around me***

**Rydel: You don't touch her. **

**Ross: She may be a little annoying, but she's our friend.**

**Laura: And you wouldn't kill us, because that's just four less people you'd get to control.**

**Ratliff: Mmmhmmm *sassy snap and head swivel* **

**Rhino: AN EVIL TOASTER! THIS IS THE SYMBOL OF WAR! **

***The toaster and the rhino engage in an epic battle of bread and pineapples***

**To Be Continued**

* * *

**Maybe Friendship Isn't So Bad**

As I drive Ally to school, I think about our conversation in music yesterday. Why was I hesitating to lie to her? I'm freaking acting out our entire friendship, and I can't simply say the word 'right' without feeling guilty? I don't know what's going on, but I need to get my act together if I'm gonna continue to pull this off.

"One more day," Ally says, "and then it's the weekend."

"Hate to break it to you, but it's technically two days. We haven't even gotten to school yet," I tell her. She shrugs. "And I thought you liked school."

"I do," she replies. "I just don't like a certain popular crowd picking on me all the time."

"I told you I'd get them to stop. Since we became friends, the only interaction you've had with them at all-other than me of course-was yesterday with Kira," I remind her. She nods.

"Your lovely girlfriend."

"My lovely almost _ex_-girlfriend," I correct her. "C'mon, Kira isn't _that _bad." Hey, I still have to make Ally believe I like the populars. Lying about liking them is easier than breathing.

"Just like burning to death isn't _that bad_," Ally says.

"C'mon, she was just jealous. What would you do if you saw your boyfriend with another girl who you hardly even know, and then later learned that he actually liked her?" I ask.

"Been there, done that," is all Ally says. I raise an eyebrow, but we get to school before I can ask about it. We say our goodbyes and head to class.

AP U.S. History is just as boring as always, and woodshop and P.E. aren't much better. Lunch is where the exciting stuff happens.

"Hey, Austin," Tyler says, sitting in Kira's spot next to me. "Is it true?"

"Is what true?" I ask.

"That Kira broke up with you because she's been secretly dating some guy at the private school next door?" she says. I sneak a glance at Kira, who just sat on the other side of Tyler. Kira gives me a slight nod.

"Yeah," I say. "It's true. But that means I'm free for a certain blonde tomorrow night." I nudge her shoulder. Her face falls.

"Oh. So you already have a date tomorrow."

"Yeah. With you," I tell her. She looks up at me and grins.

"Well, you could've just said so!" she says happily, giving me a hug. Kira raises an eyebrow at me.

"Tyler, do you have to go to the bathroom?" Kira asks. Tyler and I pull away from our hug.

"No, why?" Tyler says. Kira dumps water on her.

"You do now. Come with me." Kira grabs Tyler's wrist and drags her to the girls' bathroom.

"Wonder what that was," Dallas says, bits of his meatball sub flying from his mouth.

"Same here," I reply.

"I think Kira's already jealous," Brady says.

"Yeah. She's mad you already found another girl," Drew adds. The rest of the football team nod in agreement.

"What about you guys?" I ask the cheerleaders. "Do you know what's up with Kira?" They all shrug.

"Well…" Katie says. "Kira told me you'd be begging for her to take you back, and maybe she's just mad she's wrong for once." I shrug.

"Who knows?" I say. "Let's just enjoy the peace and quiet." Everyone chuckles and finishes their lunch.

I quickly go to C-33 after lunch because I know Kira will try to say something to me. Not sure what, but I just know she will. Luckily, I manage to get there without running into her. Everyone's already there.

"Man, you guys are fast," I note, shutting the door.

"Or you're just slow," Riker says. I shrug.

"Whatever," I say. I take note of the girls talking frantically in the corner. Kelly is using her hands animatedly, Rydel is speaking quickly but calmly, and Ally seems to be trying to shrink.

"Do you guys know what the girls are talking about?" I ask.

"Not a clue," Rocky says.

"It's a 'girls only' conversation," Ratliff adds, using finger quotation marks.

"They yelled at me when I got within five feet," Dez says.

"Well, let's see if I can get in on it, shall we?" I say. I walk over to the girls and they immediately stop talking.

"Go away, Austin," Kelly says. I raise an eyebrow.

"What'd I do this time?" I ask.

"You did nothing wrong," Rydel says gently. "We just…kinda need to talk to Ally _alone_."

"Talk about what?" I ask.

"Nothing!" the three of them shout at once.

"Well, glad to see we're all friends here," I mutter, walking away.

"Not even _the _Austin Moon could get the girls to tell what they're talking about?" Rocky says.

"Then it _must _be important," Riker adds.

"Ha-ha," I say sarcastically. "So, Kira broke up with me," I tell them.

"Really?" they all say. I nod. They don't ask for details and I don't give them; I think they're just happy we finally split. I am, too.

"I got it!" Dez exclaims. We all look at him. "A way to listen to the girls." He takes out his backpack and brings out some strange satellite disk.

"What is that?" Riker asks, looking a little nervous. Last time Dez took out an unnamed object, he blew the roof off the Lynches' house.

"A ghost sensor. It's supposed to be able to detect ghost noises from afar, but it works well for listening to other people's conversations," Dez explains. The rest of us let out a sigh of relief. Dez positions the disk and puts on the headphones.

"Well?" Rocky says.

"What are they saying?" Riker demands.

"Something about Ally admitting something. They're not saying anything that's helping," Dez says.

"Give me the headphones," I say, taking them off Dez's head. I put them on and listen.

"-and just because I had _one _dream doesn't mean anything!" Ally's saying.

"Actually, you had two," Rydel points out.

"Please, that one didn't even count," Ally says, rolling her eyes.

"You said, and I quote, 'I got lost in his eyes, and we were leaning in, and then I woke up.' If that doesn't qualify as a dream, then neither does anything else," Kelly says.

"Well, it was just a dream. That doesn't prove anything," Ally tries.

"You just don't want to admit it," Rydel says. "Face it, you're starting to fall for him." Ally sighs.

"I'm not admitting it because it _isn't true_! I would never fall for him!"

"Really? So you literally like _nothing _about him?" Kelly says doubtfully.

"Well, he's cute, and his eyes are pretty dreamy, and I guess he's kinda sweet, now that he's done picking on me. But that doesn't mean I _like _him!" Ally says.

"Are you sure? 'Cause that's exactly what it sounds like," Rydel tells her. Kelly nods. Ally sighs and looks at the floor. Then, she looks up.

"So what if I _am _falling for him? It's not even that big of a-" she cuts herself off when her brown eyes lock onto my now wide ones.

"Abort mission!" I exclaim. I tear the headset off my head, drop everything, and run out of the room, the other guys following. Our loud footsteps echo through the halls, and we can hear the girls running in their high heels not far behind us. We burst through the doors and run to the field.

"Get them!" I hear Rydel exclaim.

"Run!" I shout to the guys.

"We are!" Dez calls back.

"Well, run faster!" I reply, picking up a burst of speed.

"Ah!" I hear Rocky exclaim as one of the girls probably grabs him. "Riker, keep going!"

"Too late!" I hear Riker call back as he gets caught.

"Go on without me!" I hear Dez yell.

"Can't…Run…Any…Farther…" Ratliff gasps as Kelly grabs his wrist with the arm that isn't already holding Dez.

"Austin, she's catching up!" Riker yells frantically. I risk a glance behind me and see a surprisingly fast Ally catching up. Unfortunately, that glance causes me to trip over a rock. Ally screams as she trips over me. I try to stand up quickly but Ally grabs both my wrists before I can run away. She looks at me with a scary expression.

"Okay, you caught me. Now let me go so we can play again!" I try to get out of her iron grip. After a few tries I give up and look at her again.

"Nice try," she deadpans.

"Ally, you're scaring me…" I say.

"Good," she replies. "What part of 'private conversation' do you not understand?"

"The 'private' part?" I say as more of a question than a statement. She rolls her eyes.

"Obviously." She pauses for a while. "How much of that did you hear?" she asks shyly. I swallow nervously.

"None of it?"

"You can't seriously expect me to believe that. Tell me what you heard."

"Fine," I say in defeat. "I heard you say… you're falling for me," I confess. She lets go of my wrists and doesn't say a word. "So, is it true?" I ask.

"No," she replies. "Yes. Kinda…" she sighs. "Look, I might have a teensy weensy little crush on you, but it won't last. I promise. So, can we just forget about it?" I smirk.

"So I was right." She looks at me angrily and punches my arm.

"No, because I'm not _in love _with you. And I still never will be, so get over yourself."

"I'm sorry Ally, but until you're over me, _if _you ever get over me, I'm gonna have to mock you for being wrong. And obviously for liking me." She rolls her eyes.

"And you wonder why I didn't want you to know," she says. "Look, I didn't _ask _to like you, and quite frankly I'm not happy that I do. And don't think that I'll suddenly be all over you, because this hasn't changed anything."

"It's changed your dreams," I remind her. Her eyes widen.

"What _didn't _you hear?" I shrug. She rolls her eyes and the bell rings in the distance. We walk back to the group and say our goodbyes before splitting up to go to class.

To tell you the truth, I'm not as happy about being right as I thought I'd be. Yes, I was right again. Yes, now I can say that every girl I've met has at least liked me-excluding the obvious. But I'm not exactly happy about the fact that this might make her start acting different. Hopefully, that won't happen because she said it wouldn't change anything. For some reason, I'm starting to kinda like this little friendship we have. Before, Ally looked at me as just a friend, and while Kelly does that, it was refreshing having someone else look at me like that. But now that Ally likes me-however small that crush may be-I'm afraid that she'll start acting awkward around me. I can see her doing that, considering how dorky she is. I just hope everything stays the same as before, except maybe with a little less faking from me.

But for now I have to act smug and happy about me being right, or she might think something's up. But I also have to make sure I don't make her avoid me by talking about it too much. Not only would that upset my friends, but it would make me a little upset as well, and that worries me.

Although I've accepted that it's true, I still wish I didn't actually _like _my friendship with her. I didn't expect to, and now it's making everything that much more complicated. Because now I _want _this friendship to last. Maybe not as much as I want my friendship with the others to last, but Ally's definitely climbing the ranks.

I'm so busy with my thoughts, I don't even realize that I'm sitting in Calculus and that Mr. Jones just called on me.

"Mr. Moon," he says, "too busy daydreaming to answer my question? Why don't you share your thoughts with the class?"

"I was thinking about…" I trail off and look around the room. "Ally!" I exclaim, remembering my act. I'm technically telling the truth, just maybe with different context. But that's better than my usual total lie. Ally's head pops up from the brown book she was writing in.

"Huh?" she says, looking confused as to why I just blurted her name.

"Austin was just telling us why he wasn't paying attention in class. Might I ask why _you _weren't paying attention Ms. Dawson?" Mr. Jones says.

"I was taking notes," Ally says in a 'duh' tone. But I know she was probably writing songs for music.

"I see," Mr. Jones says. "Well, then now you know Austin's still thinking about you. Maybe you should think again before immediately rejecting him." I look at her and wiggle my eyebrows, making sure Mr. Jones can't see.

"Yeah, Ally. Who knows? Maybe you'll fall for me," I say. Her eyes widen and she glares at me.

"Not in a million years," she replies.

"She _so _wants me," I say to the rest of the class. They laugh. For the rest of the class, I make faces at Ally. She looks at me a total of seven times without me trying to get her attention, and she quickly looks away after seeing I'm already looking at her. But that doesn't stop her from giggling at my faces.

After we get out of Calculus, I beat Ally to AP music. When she opens the door, I jump out and scare her.

"Ahh!" she screams, a hand over her hard. Mrs. Adagio and I start cracking up. "Don't…ever…do…that…again," she tells me, breathing heavily.

"But it's so fun scaring your best friend!" I exclaim, throwing an arm around her. Sure, she's not my _best friend_, but she doesn't know that. And again, she's definitely getting higher on my friend scale. At this point, she's above the populars, but not quite at my best friends. She shrugs my arm off her shoulder.

"Ouch," I say when she doesn't reply.

"Okay guys, sit down 'cause you have a lot of work to do today. Tomorrow, I need at least the chorus of your duet song done before the end of class, so get to it," Mrs. Adagio says. We nod and sit down.

"So," I say, "a duet love song."

"Don't say it," Ally says. "I know what you're thinking, and if you mention our conversation earlier today, I will not hesitate to tell Rydel to murder you. And I know how much more scared of her you are than me." I raise my hands in surrender.

"I wasn't gonna," I reply. "But now that you mention it, writing this song might be a little easier for you now that-" Ally gives me a warning look.

"I'm already not happy about this. You're not making it any easier to accept and deal with."

"Fine, I'm done," I reply. "But you gotta admit, it's kinda funny that now that we have to write love songs, you…" I trail off as she gives me another glare. "Alright, alright. So, write anything for the duet in Calculus, or were you just writing your own songs?"

"I wrote one line that might sound good," she says. She opens her book, not showing me what's inside till she gets to the write page. I play the guitar and expect her to sing the part she wrote, but she doesn't.

"You gonna sing?" I ask. She shakes her head.

"You sing."

"Wanna hear my angelic voice serenading you?" I ask. She slaps my arm angrily. "Sorry! Sorry, I saw an opportunity and I took it. No more, I promise." I start playing the guitar and sing the words she wrote. "If you wanna cry, I'll be your shoulder. If you wanna laugh, I'll be your smile." I stop playing. "Wow, Ally. That's really good."

"Thanks," she replies. "But it's not much." That's when I get an idea.

"Wait, I think I got something!" I say excitedly. Ally gives me a look. "Something that might not totally suck."

"If it doesn't suck, I'll…" she trails off.

"Fall even more for me?" I finish. Then, I cover my mouth with my hands. "I'm sorry!" I say, but my voice is muffled by my hand. "I couldn't help it! I speak my mind and I don't have a filter!"

"Austin, you're making it really hard to work with you right now with all your mockery," Ally tells me.

"It's not my fault! I think something and I say it! I'm trying my best to keep my mouth shut but it's not working!" I say.

"Whatever, just play you're genius idea," she says. I sigh but do as she says.

"If you wanna cry, I'll be your shoulder. If you wanna laugh, I'll be your smile. If you wanna fly, I'll be your sky…." I trail off, but then get another idea. "Anything you need, that's what I'll be…" I trail off and stop playing. I look at Ally questioningly.

"Austin, that was…."

"Horrible?" I ask sadly. She shakes her head frantically.

"No, it was amazing! I can't believe you came up with that! Are you sure you're Austin Moon?"

"Are you sure your crush isn't-" I catch myself and start again. "Are you sure?" I ask. Ally glares at me for a split second but lets it go when I cut myself off.

"I'm positive. That was better than anything I would've come up with."

"That's not true. You're the best songwriter I've ever met. Better than any of the famous ones." Ally blushes.

"Thanks," she says.

"So, tomato, any more ideas?" I say. Her eyes widen and she presses her palms to her cheeks.

"Don't talk about it! I blush a lot, okay?" she says.

"Especially around…." I trail off and think of something to say other than what I was about to. "People as popular as me?" I finish.

"Nice catch, Moon. But don't think I don't know what you were gonna say."

"I'm trying my best!" I defend myself.

"You're lucky it's only minor, because if I _really _liked you, I'd be a lot less comfortable with you making fun of me for it. And I'm already uncomfortable with it."

"But you _don't _really like me, so we're fine. Only a little," I remind her. She sighs but nods.

"Anyway," she says, eager to change the subject. "What if we kinda repeat what we already have, except with different metaphors, you know what I mean?" I nod.

"Sorta."

"Oh!" she exclaims as soon as she finishes writing the lyrics I came up with. "What if we go 'If you wanna climb, I'll be your ladder'?" She doesn't sing the line, but I can make out the beat in my mind.

"Yeah," I agree. "I like that."

"And then 'If you wanna run, I'll be your road,'" she says. I nod again.

"Man, Als, you're on a roll."

"Als?" she asks, not looking up from writing the lyrics.

"A nickname I just made up for you. You like it?" I ask. "I think it suits you." She shrugs. "C'mon, you know you like it. How many more of your friends have come up with a nickname for you? None," I answer for her. "And this one is good."

"I guess it's kinda cute…" she says. I grin.

"See? And now I can be lazy and say 'Als' instead of 'Ally.'"

"Because saying one syllable is _so _hard," she says doubtfully. I nod.

"Besides, I don't even have nicknames for the cheerleaders," I whisper. She thinks I like the cheerleaders more than my other friends, so she blushes again and shivers at my whispering.

"Okay, you have to stop that," she replies. "I know you're doing this on purpose."

"Doing what on purpose?" I ask innocently. She rolls her eyes.

"You are _so _immature."

"I'm mature enough to kiss the cheerleaders without being afraid of cooties," I argue. She raises an eyebrow.

"That's not saying much. I haven't heard the word 'cooties' since I was five."

"Whatever," I reply. "Let's just work on the song." She nods. I get another idea. I start playing and sing the line. "If you want a friend, doesn't matter when. Anything you need that's what I'll be…" I start trailing off, but then get another idea for the end of the chorus. "You can come to me."

"Okay, who are you and what have you done with Austin because I know he could never have come up with another good lyric," Ally says. I roll my eyes.

"Shut up and tell me how amazing I am," I instruct her.

"Please, I'd rather not inflate your ego more than I have to." I roll my eyes.

"So, I think that's good for our chorus; what do you think?" I ask. She nods.

"Yeah. Now, we already have the music, but we just have to think of lyrics for the verses and the bridge." I nod.

"But technically, our assignment for tomorrow is done, so why don't we just talk?" I ask. She looks at me with an eyebrow raised.

"About what?" she asks doubtfully. I roll my eyes.

"Not about that," I assure her. She looks a bit relieved.

"So, about what?" she asks again. I shrug.

"I dunno. Anything."

"How about we talk about that Dez guy?" she suggests.

"Oh yeah," I say, "I've been meaning to tell you about him. I've known him since kindergarten, so we're pretty close. I mean, obviously I'm closer to the football team, but he and I are still pretty good friends. Before we met the others, everyone else made fun of him for his crazy clothes, and Rydel and I were the only ones who didn't. He hasn't really changed much since then. He has a bunch of crazy pets, and he never lies. Also, if he asks if you want to see what's in his backpack, don't say yes unless you've got two hours on your hands. I swear that thing is magical," I say.

"Oh," Ally replies. "He seems… interesting."

"He's a good guy," I tell her. "You know, I think you two would make a good couple," I tease.

"Yeah, he's not really my type," she replies.

"Right, I forgot," I say. "You like tan, blonde, bad boys."

"Ha-ha, very funny. But I'll have you know _you're _not my type either."

"Then why-"

"I thought we weren't talking about this," she says.

"Right."

We talk about everything from our favorite colors to our favorite memories. Soon enough, we only have five minutes left of the period.

"Okay, before we go, what's your most embarrassing memory?" she asks.

"When an umbrella got caught in my belt loop and tore my pants of in third grade," I reply, shuddering at the memory. I'm still scared of umbrellas today, but I don't tell her that. Ally holds back a laugh.

"Well, what's yours, Little Miss Perfect?" I ask. She blushes. "Uh-oh," I say. "Must be really embarrassing." She sighs.

"Today," is all she says. I'm about to ask what she means, when I remember what happened in free period.

"Seriously?" I ask. "_That's _your most embarrassing memory?" She blushes and nods.

"After telling you a million times within four days that I'd never like you, and then proving myself wrong _and _you finding out…" she trails off. "Not to mention _you _keep bothering me about it."

"But it's only a little crush," I say. "You said so yourself, you'll be over it soon. So no biggie, yeah?" I say. She sighs and nods. Then, the bell rings.

"So, you're still in one piece," Riker whispers when we start reading in AP English. I nod slightly.

"Mrs. Adagio was a witness," I whisper back, "there's no way she'd kill me with someone else in the room." Riker chuckles. "Wait, how did you know? You didn't hear the conversation."

"The girls told us what's going on, and then threatened to use Sharpie to do our makeup before school if we mentioned it to Ally."

"Oh," I reply. "Well, I've done my fair share of mocking her for it, and I'm still alive."

"That's surprising," Riker says. "She must like you more than she's letting on."

"I hope not. I don't want it to ruin our friendship," I admit.

"I never thought you'd say that," Riker says. I shrug.

"Neither did I."

* * *

**Whoa... Didn't see that coming. BUT MY FINGERS WRITE WHAT THEY WANT! No seriously, half the time, I don't even know what I'm writing till I go back and read it XD So, don't forget to vote for Forgotten and Taken on MysteryMe317's profile/story! If you liked this chapter, put EVIL TOASTER in a review! If you thought it was okay, put THAT RANDOM LLAMA in a review! If you hated it, put SEVERUS SNAPE in a review! Thanks for reading and please review! Love you more than I love reviews! (And I've told you how happy reviews make me)**

**~Maddie :)**

******Maddie's Fancy Disclaimers: Part IV Continued**

*******The evil toaster stuffs enough bread down the rhino's throat to kill him* **

******Rhino: *As he's dying* Don't forget... War is always the answer... *Takes one last bite of a pineapple and dies* **

*******Ross, Rydel, Laura, and Ratliff look at the toaster in fear***

******Toaster: MWAHAHAHHAHAHAHA! **

*******The toaster suddenly leaves to do who knows what***

******Laura: You know, Ross, I've been thinking. And those jokes really aren't that funny. **

******Ratliff: *Eyes widen***

******Rydel: *Eyes widen***

******Me (In my unconscious dream state): *Eyes widen* *Continues riding to the new theme park, R5Land, on my unicorn***

******Calum: *Eyes widen***

******Raini: *Eyes widen***

******R5ers: *Eyes widen***

******Austin & Ally fans: *Eyes widen***

******Riker (from his unspeakable location): *Eyes widen***

******Rocky (from his unspeakable location): *Eyes widen***

******Ryland (from his unspeakable location): *Eyes widen* Eh, they really aren't funny. I knew she'd see it at some point. *Goes back to DJing***

******Stormie: *Eyes widen***

******Mark: *Eyes widen***

******Ellen: *Eyes widen***

******Damiano: *Eyes widen***

******Auslly Shippers: *Eyes widen***

******Raura Shippers: *Eyes widen***

******Everyone Else on Earth: *Eyes widen***

******Aliens: *Eyes widen***

******That Random Llama: *Eyes widen***

******Ross: *Eyes widen* But... Thinking dumb jokes are funny is your thing!**

******Laura: *Shrugs* Not anymore, I guess.**

******Rydel: But... **

******Ratliff: Wow, this is surprising.**

******Ross: I know. Even the llama is surprised, and you know that only _REALLY _surprising things surprise it. **

*******Everyone nods***

*******Suddenly, the toaster flies back in***

******Toaster: I'M BACK AND READY TO KILL MADDIE!**

******Ross: *Gets an idea* You know, in order to inherit her author powers to control us, you have to do something special. *Nudges Laura***

******Laura: *Catches on* Yeah, something _every _author must do.**

******Ratliff: *Catches on* If they don't, their story could be taken down.**

******Rydel: *Catches on* And their powers would be revoked.**

******Toaster: WHAT MUST I DO?! TELL ME OR YOU DIE BEFORE MADDIE!**

******Ross: You have to do...**

******Laura: The disclaimer.**

******Toaster: WHAT IS A DISCLAIMER?**

******Ratliff: It's where you disclaim stuff.**

******Rydel: It's basically where the author states that they don't own stuff that they don't own.**

******Toaster: SO, I JUST SAY THAT AND THEN KILL MADDIE AND THE POWER WILL BE MINE?**

*******Everyone nods***

******Toaster: THEN NEITHER MADDIE NOR I OWN AUSTIN & ALLY, YOU CAN COME TO ME, OR ANYTHING ELSE YOU RECOGNIZE. HOW WAS THAT?**

*******Ross, Laura, Ratliff, and Rydel smirk and nod* **

******Toaster: *Starts spazzing* WHY AM I IN PAIN? SOOOO MUCH PAIIIINN!**

******Ross: Oh, one thing we forgot to mention: Unless you're used to it, like Maddie is, disclaimers are _incredibly _painful. You probably should've had someone else do it for you. It still hurts, but not quite as much as when you do it yourself.**

******Toaster: WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME THIS?!**

******Laura: Oops. **

*******Toaster spazzes again and falls to the ground***

*******Severus Snape jumps through the still broken window* **

******Snape: *Points wand at the evil flying toaster* AVADA KEDAVRA!**

*******The toaster dies***

*******My four friends cheer***

******Laura: OH MY GOSH YOU'RE SEVERUS SNAPE CAN I HAVE YOUR AUTOGRAPH?!**

******Snape: Turn to page three hundred and ninety-four in your copy of _Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows_. *Jumps back out the window***

*******Laura does as he says and starts fangirling***

*******Ross calms her down while Rydel and Ratliff try to wake me up***

*******After Laura is calmed down, Ross looks at the toaster.***

******Ross: Well, looks like he's... *Pauses for effect* TOAST!**

*******Laura loses it***

******Laura: *Through her laughter* Okay... It's back to normal... Your jokes are officially the funniest things on the planet... *Keeps laughing***

******Rydel: Guys, Maddie won't wake up!**

******Ratliff: We've tried everything!**

******Ross: Wait, because Maddie is such a hardcore shipper, doesn't that mean she kinda has a fifth sense, where she just _knows _if any of her ships are having a moment?**

*******Rydel, Ratliff, and Laura (who has now calmed down) look at each other and nod***

******Ross: Then you guys know what we need to do to wake her up, right? **

*******The other three nod***

******Ross: One, two, three!**

*******Raura and Rydellington kiss***

*******My eyes snap open* **

******Me: FEELS! **

*******The others break apart***

******Me: Whoa...what happened?**

*******The others explain to me what happened while I was out***

******Me: Wow... So not only did you save my life, but you got the toaster to do the disclaimer _and _the pineapple eating rhino died _and _you guys thought for yourselves without my author-y powers influencing you?**

*******They all nod***

******Me: I'M SO PROUD! **

*******We all group hug***

******Me: You guys are getting good at this disclaimer thing.**

******Ratliff: We are, aren't we? *Flips hair***

*******I nod***

******Laura: But... in case my mom buys too much pineapple, you _can _bring the rhino back to life, right?**

******Me: Well, I'm the author, so I can do whatever I freaking want, so yeah.**

******Laura: Good. **

******Ross: So... Now what?**

******Me: REENACT THE BEST AUSLLY/RAURA/RYDELLINGTON MOMENTS FOR ME!**

*******They do as I say and I live in feels forever***

******The End**


	7. Maybe Ally Should Stop Sleeping

**Hi! Wanna know who's amazing? YOU ARE! Anywhoozles, how's everyone been? It's only been a few days but I feel like I haven't posted in FOREVER! But OMG I was trying to do this on my iPad today and I came across the Taken chapters that haven't been deleted from my doc manager so I read some of them and I literally died. Cannibalism? What was I THINKING!? *bangs head on desk in shame* So yeah. Uh, just telling you-Austin's opinions on stuff-namely, Ally-change a lot, and it's supposed to be like that. I kinda go all over the place with like how he's feeling about this whole friendship thing and I'm not like making a mistake or anything like I meant to do that. So, WHAT TIME IS IT? DISCLAIMER TIME! ANTICIPATION! So the disclaimer has been prompted by amillipede and this is what it is XD: mysterious letter, family teasing, and unicorns. Not as detailed as the ones you guys have made me grow used to, but I like a challenge ;)**

**Maddie's Fancy Disclaimers: Part IIV**

***Ross runs into my bedroom where I'm watching Austin & Ally and crying***

**Ross: MADDIE MADDIE MADDIE MADDIE MADDIE MAD-Hey, why are you crying?**

**Me: *sobs violently and blows nose* AUSLLY! *starts screaming at TV* YOU OBVIOUSLY LOVE EACH OTHER JUST GET MARRIED ALREADY!**

**Ross: *pats my back* There there. *whispers* There's an unblocked kiss next episode.**

***I perk up* **

**Me: Okay, I'm good. *wipes tears* So, you yelled for my assistance? **

**Ross: Right. Look at this letter! *He shows me a letter***

**Me: *reading the letter* 'Dear Ross, meet me in the dark alley by your house at midnight tonight.' Well that's...mysterious.**

**Ross: And creepy! Maddie, what should I do?**

**Me: You seriously came to _me _for advice? What about Laura?**

**Ross: She just got her wisdom teeth out and the laughing gas hasn't worn off yet. I told her I was gonna go get Taco Bell and she started crying, and then she told me my rainbow hair was shedding sparkles. **

**Me: I see. Well, just go. I'll tag along.**

**Ross: What if they get mad?**

**Me: I don't see where the letter tells you to go alone. **

***Ross shrugs***

**Me: If they try to pull anything, I'll just use my powers to stop them. **

**Ross: Sounds like a plan. I'll meet you there. **

**-AT MIDNIGHT-**

**Me: You ready? **

**Ross: *looking nervously at the alley* Yeah. **

***We walk in***

**Ross: H-hello? **

**Unidentified Voice: Hello, Ross Lynch. I sense you brought someone. Who is this?**

**Me: Madison. But if you're lazy you can call me Maddie. I don't really care.**

**Unidentified Voice: You seem harmless. I guess I'll allow it.**

**Ross: So...What do you want? **

**Unidentified Voice: I want to offer you a new form of transportation for you and only you, Ross Lynch. We had to meet at night because I mustn't be seen by the public yet. **

**Me: Why not? **

***The Unidentified Voice walks from the shadows***

**Ross and Me: *GASPS VIOLENTLY***

**To Be Continued**

* * *

**Maybe Ally Should Stop Sleeping**

I sigh as Dez gets out a pen and paper and sits in a chair next to his bed. We're hanging out today, and I decided that this is a perfect time to voice my problems to an expert. He may be a little strange, but he makes a great psychologist.

"Are you ready yet?" I ask from his race car bed. It's insanely cool.

"Yes. Explain your…issue." I sigh. Here goes everything.

"Okay, so remember how you guys forced me to become friends with Ally?" I say. He nods.

"It was only, like, three days ago, bro," Dez says.

"Right. Anyway, I kinda…faked it," I finally say. Dez raises an eyebrow and stops writing.

"You faked it," he states, as if not quite understanding.

"I pretended to want to be friends with her so you guys wouldn't be mad. There's no way I _actually _wanted to be friends with her."

"Wanted," he says. "As in past tense."

"That's my problem. See, this friendship, acquaintanceship, _whatever _it is me and Ally have-"

"She thinks it's a real, honest-to-goodness friendship," he interrupts me.

"Yeah. Anyway, it's kinda growing on me. As in, I'm getting used to her, being friends with her," I explain. Dez looks at me strangely.

"And your problem is…?" he says, gesturing for me to go on.

"That's it. That _is _my problem. Dez, she's my _target_! Faking friendship is bad enough, but me _not minding _it? Me starting to _like _it? It's not normal!" I exclaim, all my frustration with myself coming out. And I'm _really _frustrated with myself.

When I started this little fake friendship-what did Dez say, three days ago?-it was incredibly easy to lie to Ally's face and tune her out. But in this short amount of time, I'm finding it getting gradually harder to lie to her about my friends, my attitude, my _life_. I've been lying to the populars for _years _and nothing's changed in the way I feel about lying to them. But within _three days _of becoming 'friends' with Ally, I'm suddenly having trouble deciphering which parts of our friendship are me acting, and which parts are starting to become real. Not to mention I'm finding myself _caring _about what she has to say. Not even a week ago, I was itching to see this girl cry. Three and a half years I've known her, and I hadn't had a real conversation with her, hadn't _really _spoken with her, until we formed this little friendship. Three _days_ we've been 'friends,' and now it's hard to imagine what it was like when I _didn't _talk to her.

"Austin," Dez says, "you don't like the fact that Ally isn't the dorky nerd girl you assumed she'd be, considering her intelligence."

"No, she's still a dorky nerd girl, but I don't mind it, and that's the problem," I correct him. Dez sighs.

"Look, dude, even _I _can't figure this one out. Because there _isn't a problem_. So, you're liking your friendship with Ally, big whoop. You like your friendship with me. You like your friendship with Kelly. And Rocky and Riker and Ratliff and Rydel. Liking your friendship with Ally is no different than liking your friendship with the rest of us."

"But it _is_," I disagree. Why can't he see sense? "You guys have been my best friends since elementary school, before I was a bad boy popular guy. So obviously I still like being friends with you. But me and Ally formed…whatever it is-because quite frankly I don't think it's exactly a friendship if one of us is acting-_three days ago_. And suddenly she's climbing up there with the rest of you on my friend scale! And I haven't even _started _on the crazy fact that I'm disappointed she likes me!"

"But you're starting to _not _act in your friendship," Dez says. I let out a groan of frustration and sit up from my previous laying-down position.

"Just hypno-"

"Wait, did you say you _didn't _want her to like you?" Dez interrupts me. I nod. "Why? You're Austin Moon! What happened to wanting to be able to say every girl is in love with you?"

"Exactly!" I exclaim. "I don't like it because it could _ruin our friendship_! But yesterday, I didn't even _want _this friendship! Now, suddenly, I don't want it to end! And it's just getting worse! Hypnotize me into hating her," I instruct.

"Dude, no way!" Dez says. "This friendship you have with Ally is great, and I'm not gonna pollute it with hypnotism!" I sigh and fall back on his bed.

"Well, then what do you expect me to do? I can't just _accept _this!"

"I think that's the best thing for you to do in this situation, Austin," Dez says calmly. "I know you don't want to believe it, but this friendship with Ally is making you a better person. You're not as mean to the smarter kids, and you're a much happier version of yourself. I'm not surprised you were only acting at the beginning of the week, but now you're not. And there's really nothing you can do about it."

"There has to be _something_," I try desperately. Dez shrugs.

"There may be a cure for liking a friendship, but I seriously doubt it. And if I'm being honest, I don't think you _want _to do anything about this little friendship of yours. Yes, you're begging for me to help you with this 'problem,' but truly, I think you're just scared," Dez says.

"_Scared_?! I'm Austin Moon. I don't get _scared_," I tell the redhead.

"Yes, you are _Austin Moon_. But you're also human. And humans have fears, no matter who you are. Face it. You're scared because you didn't expect to like Ally."

"I don't _like_ her," I interrupt before he can start another sentence. He rolls his eyes.

"I know you don't _like _her. But I know you _do _like her. As in, you like being friends with her. You're not used to being _friends _with any girls other than Kelly, and because of that, you aren't too excited about someone else. Also, you're not ready to let her in. And you don't have to just yet, but that doesn't mean you can't be _friends _with her. Will you have to let her in eventually? Probably at least a little. But at this point, not a week after you've met? Not if you don't want to. I know you better than anyone, and so I understand why you're scared, and don't deny that you are. But I'm telling you that you don't have to be." I sigh.

"I'm not scared," I try again. He doesn't say anything. All he does is give me this _look_. You know that look your friend gives you when someone else asks you about something, and you completely deny it, but that friend knows you're lying? That's kind of the look he's giving me. I sigh and run a hand down my face tiredly. "At least I don't _think _I'm scared."

"But I _know _you are." I think about it for a minute.

"So what if I am scared? I've been bullying her for three and a half _years_. Who's to say that she won't manage to get me to let her in, and then ditch me and expose me for the fake that I am?" I say. Dez shrugs.

"Then that's all on you. But Ally wouldn't actually do that, and we _both _know it. She's the most real girl you'll ever meet. Whatever she tells you, however she acts around you, whatever she _feels _for you, I would bet all my suspenders it's one hundred percent _real_."

"That's not making me feel any better. I said I was _starting _to like the friendship. I'm not all the way there."

"Yet," Dez reminds me. "Why does that not make you feel better? I thought that was part of the problem-being afraid she'll ditch you and show everyone who you really are. By the way, the real you is _much _better than your image."

"I know that, but my _image _is what'll make me famous and successful." Dez rolls his eyes at this. "As for not making me feel better, I _know _you're right about her being real. And now I just feel guilty. I've been bullying her for _three and a half years_. Then, suddenly one day I give her a blunt apology and ask for friendship and she forgives me and agrees to befriend me like _that_," I say, snapping my fingers. "When in reality, I didn't even _want _to be her friend. I only did it for you guys. And her being totally honest, completely real, and me being an absolute fake, it-" I sigh as all the guilt suddenly weighs down on me. "It's just not fair." Dez shrugs.

"Then don't be a fake."

"But-"

"Keep your image around the rest of the school, what_ever_. Just be real around her like you're real around us. _Let _the friendship happen, because I _guarantee_ you'll be happier than you think."

**(page break)**

_I'm tied to a chair in the middle of a dark room. I have cuts and scrapes all over my body, and I have no idea why. A figure comes out of the shadows. _

_ "Hello, Austin," the voice of my latest nightmares says. I keep an emotionless face._

_ "Ally," I say coldly. She gives me a pout._

_ "'Ally'? That's all I get?" she says. _

_ "Well, we're not exactly friends." Her eyes widen._

_ "W-we're not? But you said we were. Y-you apologized and asked to be friends."_

_ "You just kidnapped me!" I exclaim, gesturing to my bound wrists and ankles. She looks confused._

_ "_I _didn't kidnap you," she says. "The populars did. I'm here to save you." She then begins untying me. "If we weren't really friends, I wouldn't be doing this, so that proves that we really _are _friends." _

_ "Whatever, enough with the friends thing," I say, massaging my sore wrists and ankles. "Why'd the populars kidnap me?" _

_ "Beats me," Ally replies. "Probably because they're all either in love with you, or want to be you. The more time they have with you, the better." I roll my eyes. _

_ "Figures. I mean, I don't blame them, but…" I trail off. Ally nods in agreement._

_ "Anyway, we should probably get out of here before the populars come back," Ally says. _

_ "Lead the way." I follow her through a maze of dark hallways._

_ "Okay, I know you said enough, but did you really mean it when you said we weren't friends?" Ally says eventually, sounding sad. I have a lie ready, but I find myself telling the truth._

_ "Of course I meant it. You're a loser, and I'm the football captain, the school bad boy, the most popular guy at the school. There's no way I'd actually wanna be friends with you." Well, at least my brain's working right again. _

_ Or maybe it's not. _

_ Ally stops walking and looks at me with this…face. It looks like she's a puppy who was separated from her parents, taken into a terrible family, and kicked every single day. And then the sadness and hurt in that face multiplied by a million. Looking in her teary eyes makes my heart shatter. Well, guess my brain _isn't _working right. I shouldn't be so hurt seeing her cry. And yet. _

_ "Ally, I-" I start. _

_ "No. I should've known. You're just a coldhearted jerk who always has been and always will be the bad boy! You don't care about anyone except yourself, and you don't care about any_thing _except your stupid popularity!" She turns around and leaves, while I just stand there, stunned at her words. _

I wake up and look at the clock. 2 a.m. I groan and fall back on my bed. And then the memory of my dream comes back to me. What Ally said in the dream isn't actually true. Right? I grab my phone and text Dez.

_12/11/13 _

_2:01 a.m._

_To: Dez_

_I'm the same me I was when we were younger right?_

I wait for him to text back. Hopefully, he will. My phone vibrates.

_2:03 a.m._

_From: Dez_

_No but none of us are. If you're talking about you being popular and the bad boy then idk but if you're worried about being a total jerk you're fine. You've changed definitely but not enough to be worried about_

Thank goodness. If Dez says I'm fine, then I know I'm fine.

_2:03 a.m._

_To: Dez_

_Thanks bro_

_2:04 a.m._

_From: Dez_

_Np. Popularity nightmare again? _

_2:04 a.m._

_To: Dez_

_Ya and we both better go back to sleep. Cya tomorrow_

I fall asleep easily after having that stress off my shoulders.

I wake up in the morning and hurriedly get ready for school, knowing Ally will be walking again. After getting dressed, eating, brushing my teeth, and skillfully messing up my hair in the way that girls go _crazy _for, I head out.

Sure enough, I see Ally walking on the side of the road. I pull over next to her and roll down the window.

"Hey girlfriend," I say, acting like a teenage girl. She takes it the wrong way and glares at me as she gets in the car.

"Not funny, Austin," she says as I start driving.

"Gosh, someone doesn't like the teenage girl being mocked," I say.

"Wait, you didn't-oh. Never mind," she says confusedly. I raise an eyebrow and then smirk as realization hits.

"You're better at this than me, Als," I say. She rolls her eyes.

"Well, knowing you, I thought you were already making fun of me."

"C'mon, I'm not _that _bad," I say, shooting her a glance. "But you obviously know that." She groans and covers her face with her hands.

"I'm gonna stop talking to you."

"Aw, my attractiveness has rendered you speechless."

"You wish," she says, but she blushes anyway.

"You really do blush a lot, don't you?" I note. She sighs and nods.

"And I'm paler than a vampire, so it's really noticeable. And now you're probably gonna start using it against me, making me regret my decision to be friends with you," she replies. I chuckle.

"I love how well you know me."

We ride in comfortable silence until we get to school. Once we get there, I pull into a spot-_my _spot-at the front of the parking lot.

"Thanks for the ride, Austin," Ally says when we're both out of the car.

"No problem, Als," I say with a wink. Another blush creeps onto Ally's cheeks and she glares at me.

"You suck." I chuckle.

"See you later," I say as we go our separate ways. She waves goodbye and walks off.

"Hey, Austin!" Dallas exclaims as I walk in. I restrain from rolling my eyes until they fall out.

"Hey," I reply.

"So, remember how I was gonna dump Cassidy?" I nod. "Well, now Ryan and I aren't speaking to each other, so Cass and I are still going strong."

"Why aren't you guys speaking?" I ask.

"I kissed her, and then she found out I'm still with Cassidy and apparently it's 'wrong' to kiss another girl while you have a girlfriend," he says, using air quotes. I shrug.

"Don't know what _she's _talking about." The first bell rings. "Later, dude," I say. He goes off to class and I go to my car. Because I've only ditched Calculus all week, I'm gonna skip my first three classes today. I hop in and drive away to who knows where.

* * *

After getting hit on by about a million college girls at the mall-which I didn't mind-I decide to go back to school in time for lunch. Kira glares at me as I sit down. Guess she's still upset about the whole Ally thing. It's been a day-she should really get over it.

"Hey, Austie!" Tyler says, sitting next to me and cuddling my arm. Ugh, not again.

"Hey, Tyler," I reply.

"We still on for tonight?" I nod.

"Yup. So, what's the latest?" I ask everyone else.

"We caught Brady making out with his target," Dallas says in disgust. I look around and notice Brady isn't at the table.

"Where is he?" I ask.

"We kicked him off the team," Elliot replies.

"Without asking me?" They nod.

"Obviously, if you're caught doing anything with your target except making their lives miserable, you're automatically off the team," Dallas says. "_You're _the one who made the rule." I gulp.

"Right," I say. "But-uh-maybe I was, you know, wrong. I mean, if he really likes her we shouldn't have the right to punish him because of it. Maybe the populars should-uh-try being friends with the nerds." Everyone stops talking and looks at me like I just murdered seven people. I cough awkwardly. "Just a suggestion."

"Austin, are you feeling okay?" Elizabeth says. Taylor puts a hand to my forehead.

"I think he has a fever," she notes. I grab her wrist and pull it away from my forehead.

"I'm fine, guys."

"Obviously not," Ashley says. "If you were fine, you wouldn't have even _thought _of us hanging with the _nerds_." Everyone shudders.

"I dunno. Maybe he's got a point," Ryan says shyly.

"Shut up, Ry," Kira says fiercely. Ryan shrinks away and looks at the floor. I look at her sadly. Before we can start a new conversation, the bell rings.

"Later, guys," I say. Everyone says their goodbyes and leaves quickly. I walk to C-33 and see that I'm the last one there.

"Don't go over there," Rocky says when I start going over to the girls.

"Another private conversation," Riker adds. I raise my eyebrows.

"Do you _really _want a repeat of yesterday?" Ratliff asks. I shrug.

"What's more important than what they were talking about yesterday? Dez, the bug." I hold out my hand.

"Dude, just 'cause I have one, doesn't mean-"

"You didn't help me yesterday, so you have to help me today, bro," I say. Dez sighs and hands me a small device. I grin and waltz over to the girls.

"Hey look, it's Austin!" Ally says, overly enthusiastic.

"Girls only," Rydel tells me.

"But what could be more important than-"

"_Girls only_," Kelly repeats. I sigh and lean against the nearest desk, making sure to stick the bug to the bottom of it as I do.

"But I wanna stay. I miss my sister," I say in a baby-ish voice, going over to hug Rydel.

"Get off," she whines, pushing me away. I pout.

"My sister doesn't even love me."

"Austin, I will make you pancakes for breakfast all next week if you leave," Rydel tells me. I grin.

"Nice seeing you, ladies. I'm out."

"Austin, don't-" Ally starts, but she's cut off by Kelly saying bye. Ally mouths, _Don't leave me alone with them _desperately. I shrug, mouth an apology, and go back to the guys.

"Bug is placed," I tell them. They nod.

"Follow my lead," Rocky says. "Ladies, we're gonna go see if these ovens still work. If there's a fire…Scream." We nod.

"Be safe," Kelly replies absently.

"Make good choices," Rydel adds in the same tone.

"Help me!" Ally exclaims nervously.

"They're harmless," Riker assures her.

"Just do what they tell you," Rocky adds.

"Don't insult them," Ratliff says.

"And always, _always _tell the truth," Dez and I say simultaneously. We do our 'What up?' handshake and walk over to the ovens, where the girls won't be able to see us.

"Headphones, called it!" I say. The other guys groan and I put on the headphones. I know I shouldn't repeat yesterday, but now I'm intrigued. Ally obviously doesn't want to be in that conversation, and I want to know what the drama is about.

"Guys," Ally says in a whiny voice, "can't we talk about something _else_?"

"No," Rydel and Kelly say at the same time.

"Talking about Austin every day is getting old." I'm not really surprised they're talking about me.

"No it's not!" Kelly says excitedly. "Gosh, you two are _such _a cute couple!"

"We're not even a couple!" Ally says.

"But you want to be," Kelly tells her.

"No I don't!"

"I thought you liked him," Kelly says, sounding confused.

"I said only a _little_. Not enough to want to date him!"

"But enough to make you blush when we talk about it!" Rydel says.

"I blush easily," Ally says in annoyance.

"_Anyway_," Rydel says, getting back on topic, "have you had any more dreams?" Ally doesn't reply.  
"Your silence and increased blushing says yes!" Kelly says.

"Well, tell us what it was about! It's only a matter of time before the boys come annoy us again!" Rydel says. So they _do _talk about us in annoyance behind our backs. Ally sighs in exasperation.  
"Can I _please _leave?" she asks.

"No, now spit it out, girly," Kelly says.

"I knew telling you guys was a bad idea."

"Ally, please just tell us," Rydel says.

"Alright, fine. _Fine_. There's no way I'm getting out of it anyway. In the dream, the only difference was that we really did kiss. There, you happy?" Ally says. Oh no. Her crush is getting stronger. Which means more awkwardness and less normal friendship. Which means things _should _be going back to normal. But, the only _not _normal thing is that I don't _want _things going back to normal. Stupid good friendship.

Rydel and Kelly start giggling. And my sister doesn't _giggle_. This Ally thing must be more serious than I thought.

"You _so _like him," Kelly says.

"I said-"

"Yeah. You _said _kinda. But now you've had the _kiss _dream, which means you like him more! Enough that you wanna kiss him!" Rydel says.

"I never said if the kiss was _good _or not," Ally says. I can almost _hear _her putting her hand on her hip.

"Well, was it?" Rydel asks.

"Eh, it was okay," Ally says. I assume the other two girls give her looks because after a beat, she says, "Or maybe it was good." Another beat. Ally sighs in defeat. "Or maybe it was…the most _amazing _feeling I've ever had." I gulp. No. This can't _seriously _be happening. The one girl I've recently decided I _don't _want to like me, dreams about kissing me and says it's the most amazing feeling she's ever had?

Rydel and Kelly giggle again.

"I ship it _so _hard," Kelly says.

"No. No, no, no, no, _no_. Austin and I are _not _your new OTP," Ally says sternly. Wait, _what_? Why does Kelly want to 'ship' us, why is Ally so upset about it, and what the pancakes is an _OTP_?

"Too late, you already are!" Kelly exclaims.

"I'm already on chapter five of my fanfiction!" Rydel says. What's _fanfiction_? Are they even speaking English?

Ally groans in frustration.

"We don't even have a ship name," she says eventually, sounding smug.

"Auslly," Rydel and Kelly say in 'duh' tones. Why would Ally and I name a ship, and what's Auslly? They're too confusing.

"Whatever. Can we just quit it with all the fangirl talk? Austin and I are _not _to be fangirled over. We aren't a couple and _never will be_," Ally says. At least she doesn't want to be a couple, despite her feelings. But that confuses me, too. If she likes me, shouldn't she _want _to go out with me?

I take off the headphones and give them back to Dez.

"Nothing important," I say. "Just Rydel _gushing _about her kiss with Rocky," I add, rolling my eyes. "She really needs to shut up about it. It's so _annoying_." Rocky turns red, a sight I've seen on very few occasions.

"Wait, then why didn't they want us over there?" Dez asks.

"Probably because Rydel knew she'd be in for a big helping of mockery," I say. The other guys shrug and we walk back to the main part of the classroom.

"Are you guys done talking yet," Riker complains as if we weren't just listening to them.

"Yes!" Ally says, pushing past the girls and walking over to us. I chuckle.

"Someone's eager to see me." Ally rolls her eyes.

"There are times when I don't really care what you say. Now is not one of those times."

"Gosh, what did you guys say to make her so grumpy?" Rocky asks the other girls.

"Nothing!" the three of them say at the same time.

"I feel like even though they said nothing, there was something…" Dez says.

"Really, the conversation wasn't that important," Rydel says.

"We were just annoyed with you guys," Kelly adds.

"And I'm not grumpy," Ally says defensively.

"Sure, Als. _Sure_," Ratliff says.

"Als?" I say. Ratliff nods.

"Cute nickname, huh?"

"Yeah, a cute nickname that _I _already made up. Don't call her that," I say. I don't know why, but I don't want anyone but myself calling Ally 'Als.' Maybe I've recently acquired a thing with nicknames.

"Someone's protective of their nicknames," Ally teases. I nod.

"Nicknames are a sign of friendship. Because I'm the only one with a nickname for you, that puts me at the top of your friend scale. Therefore, no one else can call you 'Als' because I must be the alpha," I explain. The others look at me strangely while Ally laughs.

"The alpha?" she asks. I nod. "Well, I can assure you that you'd still be at the top of my friend scale _without _the nickname." Rydel starts coughing.

"Flirting," she says in between coughs. Everyone laughs while Ally and I glare at her. I cover Ally's ears with my hands.

"Rydel, you saw how grumpy she was! Now is not the time for stuff like that! Besides, _I'm _the only one who's allowed to mock her for it!" I say.

"And why is that?" Rydel says.

"Because I'm the subject of her crush." Ally rolls her eyes and pulls my hands away from her ears.

"I'm getting seriously frustrated with you people." We laugh. "Friends should be supportive."

"Unless it's good-hearted mockery. You know we love you, Als," I say.

"Yeah, yeah," she says with a roll of her eyes. "Love you guys, too." I can't help myself.

"Especially me, yeah?" I add. Ally makes an exasperated noise.

"Apparently not," Riker notes.

"Dude, that look she's giving you show's pure hatred," Rocky adds. I'll admit, Ally's looking at me quite murderously.

"Aw, but you know we're best friends," I say cheekily, wrapping Ally up in a hug. She doesn't hug me back. "Well, how rude," I say, pulling away.

"Gosh, I thought you were polite," Dez says. Ratliff nods.

"And I thought you were normal. You just passed up a hug from Austin. Do you _know _how many girls would _love _to be you right now?" Ratliff says.

"And go through three and a half years of pure torture? Don't think so," Ally says, giving me a pointed look. Everyone _Oooooh_'s.

"But we're over that now, yeah? C'mon, show 'em we're best friends and gimme a hug," I say, my arms wide. To be honest, I just want to see if she'll, like, start cheering afterwards or something. Ally rolls her eyes. "Pwease?" I say, giving her the puppy dog eyes. She sighs and wraps her arms around my waist while my arms pretty much hide her small shoulders from view.

"Awww," everyone says. We pull away.

"Now was that so hard?" I ask.

"Unfortunately, no," Ally replies as though it's _really _frustrating that it was easy to hug me. Kelly coughs.

"Auslly," she says like Rydel did earlier. "Man, Rydel," she says after her 'cough fit,' "we need cough drops."

* * *

**Gosh, Ally. You really do need to stop sleeping. YOU'RE NOT HELPING AUSTIN WITH HIS PROBLEM! Anyways, does anyone wanna like idk ask me questions that I'll answer on here? I have a lot of free time okay? And I want you guys to like know me so you can understand how deep my insanity is and maybe call a mental hospital. So ANYWAYS is being in love with book characters unhealthy? *shrugs* Whatevs. OMG I just remembered! So my one-shot called Happy was nominated for MysteryMe317's Best Austin and Ally Stories of 2013 awards for the one-shot category! So, uh, voting for me would be pretty awesome. Anyone in the mood for a hug? I want a hug. I'm watching Burglaries & Boobytraps and I really wanna hug Austin right now. SOMEONE SEND ME A VIRTUAL HUG THANKS! Idk I'm exhausted...**

******Maddie's Fancy Disclaimers: Part IIV** Continued

**Me: You're a-**

**Ross: *rudely cutting me off* YOU'RE A FREAKING UNICORN! **

**Unidentified Voice (Who has been recognized as a unicorn): *Looks down at self* Oh. It seems I am. Of course I'm a unicorn!**

**Me: OMG CAN WE RIDE OFF INTO THE SUNSET?**

**Unicorn: Well, I was _hoping _I'd be Ross's new form of transportation, and we could ride off into the sunset. **

**Ross: HECK YES! *Gets on the unicorn, helps me on, and we fly to the Lynches' house* **

***We get off when we get there* **

***Ross runs in the house before me***

**Ross: GUYS I GOT A PET UNICORN THAT I CAN RIDE ANYWHERE!**

***Everyone starts laughing***

**Rocky: Did Laura's laughing gas wear off on you, bro?**

**Ross: _No_.**

**Riker: Well, if you kissed her too much, it might be a _possibility_...**

**Ross: Guys, I'm serious!**

**Me: Yeah, we rode the unicorn here!**

**Rydel: Not you, too!**

**Ross: Unicorn, come in here!**

***Unicorn walks into the house***

**Unicorn: Hi!**

***Everyone starts laughing***

**Rocky: You're gonna go around riding a pink, sparkly _unicorn_?**

**Ross: It's _salmon_, and sparkles are manly!**

**Rydel: It's _pink_, and no they're not. **

**Riker: Dude, the thing probably poops butterflies!**

**Unicorn: I do not!**

***Everyone raises an eyebrow* **

**Unicorn: I poop flowers. I puke butterflies. **

***Rocky, Rydel, and Riker start laughing***

**Ryland: *walks in* What's so-unicorn?**

**Unicorn: Sup.**

**Ryland: Cool! I want one!**

**Rydel: Wait, Ryland wants one?**

**Rocky: It must be cool!**

**Riker: Sorry for doubting you, Ross.**

**Ross: I guess it's okay. But the unicorn's still mine. C'mon, Maddie. We shall go ride off into the sunset and show Laura the unicorn. **

***I nod and we do as he says***

**The End**


	8. Unfortunately the World Hates Me

**Hey guys! Long time no see, yeah? So, I recently got a review that got me thinking. Someone gave me a review saying that because my disclaimers are so long, the effect of the story is ruined. So I wanna know what you guys think as a whole. Do you LIKE my disclaimers, or do they ruin the effect of the story? Be completely honest! I won't be offended, I swear! Anyway, while we're on the topic of disclaimers, I think I have one to do... The prompt is from amillipede and it's You and the band are watching Frozen(or Tangled, if you haven't seen Frozen), and the characters come to life. You and the band have a major freak out moment. Total chaos is unleashed, but in the end, it is solved by couples getting together. Okay, this seems challenging. Let's see how it goes. BTW, in the last chapter I messed up the Roman Numerals cuz I'm an idiot... uh a list of Roman numerals would be greatly appreciated...**

**Maddie's Fancy Disclaimers: Part VI**

***I'm watching Frozen with R5* **

**Ross: This movie is so good like seriously.**

**Rydel: I know! Olaf is so cute OMG!**

**Rocky: So's Elsa...**

***We all roll our eyes* **

***Suddenly the characters jump out of the screen***

**Ratliff: *screams***

**Ana: *screams***

**Olaf: *screams***

**Kristoff: *screams***

**Elsa: EVERYONE QUIET! What just happened?**

**Riker: Maddie did you do this?**

**Me: *coughs awkwardly* No but there's something I've been meaning to tell you guys...**

**Elsa: Whoever you are, it can wait. You have to help us get home!**

**Ross: Maddie can do it!**

**Rocky: Yeah she has super cool author powers!**

**Me: *coughs awkwardly* Actually...**

**To Be Continued**

* * *

**Unfortunately the World Hates Me**

"Morning, Als," I say as the brunette gets in my car. This morning I just decided to pick her up at her house.

"Morning, Austin," she replies, shutting the door behind her.

"Did you have sweet dreams last night?"

"Unfortunately," she mutters.

"Uh-oh," I say. She shrugs.

"Not my fault," is all she says.

"We need to get you, like, hypnotism or something," I tell her. She nods.

"I agree. Know anyone who can help?" I laugh.

"Well, Dez is pretty good at hypnotism, but something tells me he won't wanna tamper with this situation," I reply.

"Darn it," she says.

"So I guess you're stuck finding me incredibly attractive," I tell her, wiggling my eyebrows.

"Well, I'll have you know that I hate every minute of it." I shrug.

"Keep tellin' yourself that." She slaps my shoulder and doesn't speak again for the rest of the ride to school.

"Thanks for the ride," she says when I park.

"You're mad," I tell her.

"Not mad, just kinda annoyed with you. But that's a daily occurrence, so don't be too worried," she adds with a playful smile. I chuckle and get out of the car.

"Good. See ya later," I say. She nods and I head to AP U.S. History. Nothing important happens, although I do manage to land ten eraser bits in Kelly's hair before she notices. Luckily, it goes by quickly.

"Hey, man!" Dallas exclaims, slapping my back as he catches up to me on our way to woodshop. I nod in greeting. "So, Brady is officially dating his target, therefore he is an official _loser_," Dallas tells me. I nod.

"Yeah, obviously," I say halfheartedly. Dallas doesn't notice.

"Tyler told me that Kira told her you cheated on her." I shrug.

"So, I kissed _one _girl. Big deal," I lie.

"So the whole thing about Kira crushing on that other guy was fake?" I nod.

"She just didn't want anyone to know I cheated on her. But now I'm with Tyler so it doesn't really matter, yeah?" I say. Dallas nods as we walk into woodshop.

"Good morning, class. Continue working on your semester projects," the teacher says before leaving the room. We all talk while we work. Hey, we all have to have at least a B in every class to stay on the football team. I have no idea how the rest of the team does it; they probably copy off the nerds.

"So I'm having a party tonight at my house," Dallas announces. "You're all coming. And so are the cheerleaders. And, of course, everyone else except the total losers." We all nod. "Come whenever, leave whenever, yadda, yadda, yadda." After that, everyone engages in their own conversations.

"So, how's Dorkson?" Dallas asks. I freeze.

"W-What do you mean?" I ask, my voice cracking. He raises an eyebrow.

"I was wondering how miserable you've made her life this week. What's with the stuttering and squeaky voice?"

"Nothing," I say, making my voice deeper. "Nothing," I repeat at my normal pitch. "You know, her life has been… Bad."

"But not miserable?" I shrug.

"Dude, we gotta change that. Today after lunch, we should all gang up on her again," Dallas says.

"Uh, bad idea," I tell him. "Her dad is a former pro wrestler," I lie.

"Eh," he says with a shrug. "Whatever happens, it'll be worth it to see that girl cry." He is a despicable human being. That's all I have to say. But now I have to find a way to protect Ally.

"Yeah, uh, sure. One sec. Screw on this thing while I go to the bathroom," I say.

"Uh, okay?" Dallas says. I grab a hall pass from the teacher's desk and head to the bathroom. Then, I take out my phone and send a text to Ally.

_9:23 a.m._

_To: Ally_

_I need to talk to you. Like now. Come to C-33_

Knowing her, she probably won't even have her phone on because we're in school. But I hope to all my lucky stars that this _one _time, her phone will be on.

_9:25 a.m._

_From: Ally_

_Um ok…_

I send her a quick reply.

_9:26 a.m._

_To: Ally_

_Hurry_

I wait anxiously in C-33 for Ally to show up. I sit on a desk and bounce my leg repeatedly. It's an old nervous habit I have. If I'm not sitting down, I have a tendency to scratch the back of my neck when I'm nervous. She wouldn't _not _show up. It's only been, like, two minutes. She'll be here.

Sure enough, the brunette walks into the room not a second later. She rushes over to me as I stand up.

"Austin! What's wrong?" she asks. I think about how to tell her. I decide to be straightforward.

"Dallas is getting suspicious. After our lunch today, he wants the entire team to gang up on you again. If you can get here fast enough, then no one will be able to find you and they won't be able to hurt you," I tell her my plan as I think of it. "I told you I wouldn't bully you anymore, but there's no way I'll get out of it if they see you. But if you get away, then everyone wins."

"Austin, I appreciate that you're worried and you don't want them to hurt me. But I'm not hiding from them. I trust you. I know you don't consider me your target anymore. So I know that if you say anything, you won't mean it. And I know that you won't let it get too far. I'll do some fake crying and it'll be over like that," she snaps her fingers. "But I'll never get anywhere if I just hide from my problems, yeah?" She smiles slightly as she says 'yeah' like I would. I sigh.

"You're sure?" I ask her. She nods.

"I promise. I know whatever you say won't be real, and that's all I care about." How does she not see how bad this is? They want to make her cry for their entertainment, and she's fine with it?

"But, Ally-"

"Austin, I'll see you right after in fifth period. You can see for yourself I'll be fine," she says. I sigh and nod.

"I _really _don't wanna do this," I say. She nods.

"But if you do, they probably won't bother you about it for a while. Think about that. Just five minutes," she says. Then, she laughs. "I'm gonna be the victim, and yet I'm the one comforting you."

"Because I know how much I've hurt you these past years, and I hate myself for it. I dunno why I even decided to be the bad boy in the first place. I hate it." She raises an eyebrow.

"I thought you liked being the bad boy," she says. Crap. I guess I'll have to tell her, it was inevitable. And oddly enough, I don't mind as much as I should. But it'll have to wait till later.

"I'll explain later. You deserve the truth. But for now, we should probably get back to class," I tell her. She nods.

"I didn't know I wasn't getting the truth. But okay, I guess. See you later, then." I nod and follow her out the door.

I don't even get the chance to go to woodshop before the bell rings. I go to P.E., but I don't pay attention. All that's on my mind is Ally.

It's funny. On Monday, I was the one who initiated the bullying. I was the one most entertained by her crying. And now all I want is to protect her. But maybe that's not as bad a thing as I thought. Now I know how terrible of a person Dallas is for liking hurting her, like the rest of the team. And that used to be me. But not anymore. I can't believe I'm gonna go through with this, but I need the popularity for my music. That's what I tell myself all through P.E., although that doesn't make me feel any better.

Lunch comes and goes sooner than I'd like.

"Alright, Austin, got your umbrella?" Dallas asks, slapping my back as we make our way out of the cafeteria.

"I heard there's a one hundred percent chance of rain today, bro," Jake says. I nod absently.

"Yeah…Exciting."

"C'mon, hurry or we're gonna miss her!" Ryland exclaims. We all pile into the hallway.

_Please don't be here, please don't be here, please don't be here, _I think to myself. Unfortunately, the world hates me.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Ally Dorkson," Dallas says, sauntering up to her. "Miss us?" Ally looks up at us and tries to shrink herself.

"Aw, of course she did," Jake says, ruffling Ally's hair obnoxiously. Then, he winces. "Oops, I forgot I spilled my ketchup _all over _this hand," he says, holding up his hand that now has smeared ketchup all over it. "My bad." Ally's eyes widen and she brings a hand to her hair, which is full of ketchup.

"Hey, I think it's a good look for her," Ross says. He grabs Jake's hand and brings it up and across Ally's face, smearing ketchup all over her. "What do you guys think?" Everyone laughs. "How 'bout you, Austin? What've you got to say to this _dork_? I mean, she _is _your target."

"And yet she's still hopelessly in love with you," Elliot says, shaking his head.

"Whoa, I am _not _in love with him," Ally finally says. "Now if you'll excuse me," she tries to push through us, but Ryland and I step together to block her. I shoot her an apologetic look.

"Oh, I dunno, Dorkson. There hasn't been a girl yet that can resist all this." I gesture to my face and flex my muscles. "But, y'know, maybe it's best you apparently aren't in love with me, considering the fact I wouldn't even go out with you in your dreams."

"Good. I don't _want _you to," she replies.

"Keep tellin' yourself that, Als," I say. Then, my eyes widen and so do Ally's.

"Als?" Josh asks skeptically.

"Yeah, _Als_," I say. "It means…Ugly cow in…Dutch," I lie unconvincingly. Luckily, the football team has the combined IQ of a rock. Ally subtly raises an eyebrow at me, and I give her a slight shrug back.

"You know Dutch?" Ryland asks.

"That's all I know. I was saving it just for Als Dorkson," I say. "Don't you feel special?" I ask her.

"You really know how to treat a girl, Austin," Ally says sarcastically.

"Hey, what's this?" Cole says, grabbing a brown book from Ally's hand. I see a pink 'A' on it and recognize it as the book Ally's _always _writing in.

"Give that back!" Ally says, trying to take the book from Cole. He holds it above her head.

"Jump for it, Dorkson," Cole taunts her. She rolls her eyes but tries jumping to get the book. Unfortunately, she's in heels, and the minute she lands back on the ground, Dallas swipes his leg under her feet and she falls. She lets out a squeak of pain. "Now that the cockroach is immobile," Cole says, "Austin, would you like to do the honors?"

"I'd _love _to," I say, taking the book from Cole's hands. I gulp and send a quick glance at Ally.

_Fifty-seven_, she mouths. I don't really get what she means until I open the book. She's numbered the pages. I turn to page fifty-seven and start reading.

"'Book, I think I'm starting to like Austin. I mean, I know he's tortured me for the past three and a half years, but I don't know. Last night I dreamed we were about to kiss, and I actually _wanted _to kiss him. And then I saw him today and he looked at me with those dreamy eyes and my world turned upside down. I have no idea what to do. Love, Ally,'" I read. I shoot her another subtle look and she shrugs. "Aw, looks like Dorkson really _does _like me," I say. "Well, have fun with that because again, I'd never go out with an-" I pause for a second, guilt starting to overcome me. I swallow it down and finish my sentence in a rush. "Ugly, fat cow like you." I cough awkwardly after I say it. It's not even one of my best insults. Actually, one of my worst. But now that Ally's one of my best friends, even _that _hurts to say.

Ally's eyes fill with tears. She gets up, grabs her book, and runs away crying. But not before giving me a look of pure hurt. Not the look from the dream, but very close to it.

"Good job, my friend," Dallas says, giving me a high-five. Then, the bell rings. "Catch you later, bro," he says. I nod absently and watch the football team leave. As soon as they're out of sight, I sprint in the direction Ally ran. I find her in an abandoned classroom, sitting on top of a desk with her knees brought to her chest and her chin resting on them. She doesn't react much when she sees me.

"I forgot how bad it is," she says. I think back to the look she gave me before she ran away. I don't ever wanna see it again, but that's the look she's wearing right now.

"Ally," I say, walking closer to her, "you know I didn't mean any of that, right? I _promise _I was acting. You're beautiful, and an amazing friend, and I wouldn't have you any other way." She sighs.

"You're a really good actor. I was starting to believe that we never were friends, or that you were faking it or something," she says. Oh. I didn't know I could feel more guilt than I already was. Guess I was wrong.

Our friendship is real now. That's what matters.

"I knew we shouldn't have gone through with this," I say. She shrugs.

"Now they should leave me alone for a while, yeah?" she says.

"I hope." I wipe a stray tear from her cheek. She smiles and slightly leans into my touch, which makes me feel even _more _guilty, and I can't figure out why.

"So," she says, "ugly cow in Dutch?" I chuckle.

"I panicked, alright?"

"Yeah, you did," she replies. Then she sighs. "But even though I saw the panic and I knew you didn't mean it, it still hurt, you know?" I nod.

"And I couldn't be more sorry, Als," I say. She nods.

"I know. You don't have to apologize. I brought this upon myself. I could've done what you said, but I thought I could handle it. Guess not." Her voice catches and fresh tears roll down her face. She turns her head down so her face is hidden by her knees.

"Shhh," I say, lifting her up and carrying her to the back of the room, where I set her down against the wall so I can sit next to her. She leans against my shoulder as tears fall silently down her face. "Hey, remember how I told you I'd tell you what's really going on with the football team?" She nods.

"Yeah, I've been wondering about that."

"Well, here goes then," I say. "So, as I told you, I don't really like being the bad boy. And I _hate _the populars. They're mean and annoying and complete idiots. But I had to hang out with them. I figure that if I'm popular, I'll have a better chance at getting a record deal. My dream is to become a famous musician, and if I'm already popular, then I'm halfway there. But the populars don't believe in music, so they don't even know. So Rocky, Riker, Dez, Ratliff, Kelly, and Rydel are my _real _friends. Well, and you, obviously."

"So you only _fake _being the bad boy?" I nod.

"Pretty much, yeah."

"That's good," she says. "So did you ever really mean it when I was your target?" I swallow hard.

"Course not," I reply. She sniffles. "Hey, the others might be wondering where we are. We should head to C-33." I start getting up, but she grabs my arm.

"Can we stay here today?" she asks. "Just you and me?" I nod and settle back next to her, her head finding my shoulder again. I can't help but think about how coupley this is. And that she has feelings for me. And that I don't have feelings for her. And that this should be awkward, but it's not.

"So, why page fifty-seven?" I ask her.

"That's what they wanted to hear, yeah?" she replies.

"But they still didn't have to know. You realize that now they'll take over my old job and make it their goal to embarrass you in front of me. More than I ever did," I warn her.

"Hey, we're friends. If they think they can bring me to tears by embarrassing me in front of a _friend _who I _kinda _like, then they're wrong."

"But they don't know we're friends. And they may go as far as the whole school." She shrugs.

"Remember that time you hid a camera in your hat and put a spider on my head so you could show the whole school the video of me screaming and jumping around trying to get the spider off?" I nod.

"Man, I was mean," I say.

"Pretty much," she agrees.

"Sorry," I apologize again.

"It' fine," Ally replies. "Now I see why you did it. But you could _totally _get a record deal without the popularity. But that's your decision." I nod.

We sit in comfortable silence until the bell rings for sixth period. We both sigh and I get up, holding out a hand that Ally takes, standing up as well.

"Off to Calculus we go," I say. Ally nods and we walk there together. I completely forget about the fact that I don't want anyone to see us hanging out. Luckily, no one does.

Unfortunately, we're late for algebra. Normally, I wouldn't really care, but with my building lie about liking Ally, everything in this class gets more complicated.

"Mr. Moon, I certainly hope you're not being a bad influence on Miss Dawson and causing her to be late," Mr. Jones says, glaring at the two of us. I shrug.

"Oops," I say sarcastically. Ally elbows me in the stomach and I wince. That girl has bony elbows.

"We're sorry, Mr. Jones. We-ah-lost track of time, right Austin?" She looks up at me innocently. I nod.

"But don't expect it to not happen again, Mr. Jones," I say, walking to my seat, pulling Ally with me. Mr. Jones rubs his temples and counts to ten slowly. I smirk and look at Ally, who looks concerned for our dear teacher. Then, Mr. Jones got back to the lesson, sounding more frustrated than usual.

"Oh, Austin?" Ally whispers. I look over at her. "I forgot to tell you. Don't ever touch my book again." She says it so fiercely I can't help but be a little terrified.

"Sorry," I apologize.

"Eh, I forgive you today, I'm just warning you for the future." She looks so weak-she hardly has any muscle on her. It's almost unhealthy. But for some reason, I know that if I touch her book again, things will get real ugly, real fast. I nod nervously.

"Gotcha," I squeak.

"That's it," Mr. Jones says angrily. "Mr. Moon, switch seats with Mr. Parker." I roll my eyes but bring my books to the front left desk, while Jonathan Parker-a nerd who's known for collecting the cheerleaders' fingernails-goes to my old seat next to Ally.

"Now we can spend more quality time together," I say with mock excitement. Mr. Jones just gives me a look.

"I hope you and your girlfriend can find another time to talk," he says.

"Oh, we will," I reply. "I can be pretty resourceful. For all you know, I could be using this conversation to talk to Ally in code _right now_." Before Mr. Jones can reply, the bell rings. I head out of class before he can punish me. One good thing about my new seat, now I can always be the first one out. I walk to music.

"Hey, Mrs. Adagio," I say when I walk into music.

"You're here before Ally," she replies. "That's new." I shrug.

"Mr. Jones moved my seat to the front 'cause I was talking to Ally too much." She nods in understanding.

"He's actually that mean in real life," she tells me. "All the teachers hate him."

"I'm not surprised," I say. Just then, Ally walks in.

"Wow, you're here fast," she says to me.

"Now that I'm in the front, I get out faster," I tell her. She nods.

"I can't believe I got Jonathan Parker. He asked me for my fingernails," she says, sounding disgusted and freaked out. I don't blame her.

"Wow, Als. Normally, he only likes cheerleaders' fingernails. You must be pretty special, my friend."

"Ew," is all she says. I chuckle and poke her stomach. She flinches and slaps me. "Bad," she says, pointing a finger at me. Before I say anything, I hear frantic typing. Ally and I turn to look at Mrs. Adagio.

"What are you doing?" I ask.

"Nothing!" Mrs. Adagio replies, snapping her laptop shut. Ally and I shoot each other confused looks, and then we simultaneously shrug and sit down. We hear a little more typing, but this time we ignore it.

"Okay, so now we need the first verse to our song, since we're done with the chorus, which is due today," Ally says professionally. I nod.

"Okay. So…Any ideas?" She nods and opens her book. I remember our conversation earlier and resist the urge to touch it. She gets to the right page and I read her elegant handwriting.

_When you're on your own_

_Drowning alone_

_And you need a rope that can pull you in_

_Someone'll throw it_

I nod and play the guitar to the music she wrote while singing the lyrics. She smiles slightly.

"This is really good, Als," I say when I finish. She blushes. I grin at the sight.

"What about you? What should go next?" she asks.

"Um… What about something about being afraid?" I start playing the guitar and sing the lyrics I think of. "And when you're afraid that you're gonna break and you need a way to feel strong again, someone'll know it." Ally smiles.

"I think some of my skill is rubbing off on you, Blondie," she says.

"Oh!" I say excitedly as more lyrics come to my head. I start playing again. "And even when it hurts the most, try to have a little hope 'cause someone's gonna be there when you don't…" I trail off.

"And then we could say 'When you don't' again and get into the chorus," Ally suggests. I nod.

"And the first verse is done!" I exclaim. We high-five. "Now we gotta do the second verse. Ally groans.

"I'm not feeling creative anymore."

"C'mon, Als, think." She sighs and blows air out of her cheeks.

"Umm, when you go insane, someone'll call the mental institution." I roll my eyes, but then they widen as more lyrics come to me. I start playing guitar again. "Wait, I was just kidding."

"Shh," I say. Then, I start singing. "You struggle inside, losing your mind, fighting and trying to be yourself, then somebody lets you…"

"That was good. You really got all that from calling a mental institution?" she asks. I shrug.

"Well, the struggling inside and losing your mind part, yes. But the being yourself and somebody letting you I got from us," I say. Ally nods.

"Yeah, you let me be myself. After three and a half years of _mocking me _for being myself." I wince.

"But we're not living in the past, remember? You forgive me and love me now, yeah?" My eyes widen and I backtrack. "Not what I meant, I swear."

"Sure it's not," she said, rolling her eyes. "And I _don't_, by the way."

"You don't forgive me?"

"I don't love you!" she exclaims, slapping my shoulder with every word.

"I know and I'm sorry! Now stop hitting me!" I say. She stops, but the glare doesn't go away. "I really am sorry, Als. I honestly didn't mean that one. And with all the other ones, I'm just trying to make the best out of an unfortunate situation, okay?" She sighs and nods.

"Whatever. Let's just work on the second verse."

By the time the bell rings, we're finished with the entire song. Now I'm going to put it upon myself to see what Ally's deal is with performing, and how I can help her get over it. But right now, I have to go to English.

I sit in my seat next to Riker and get out the book I've been pretending to read since August. Its pages are torn and the text is so faded I would hardly be able to make out the words if I tried. But I don't. Instead, I hide my phone behind it and text. Ratliff hardly ever pays attention wherever he is eighth period.

_2:23 p.m._

_To: Ratliff_

_Are you as bored as I am?_

I receive a reply seconds later, and my phone vibrates loudly. Luckily my teacher doesn't hear. I silence my phone and read the text.

_2:23 p.m._

_From: Ratliff_

_Nope…I'm even more bored_

_2:24 p.m. _

_To: Ratliff_

_I doubt that_

_2:24 p.m._

_From: Ratliff_

_Well believe it cuz its true_

_2:25 p.m._

_To: Ratliff_

_Whatever_

Ratliff takes a while to reply, probably thinking of a way to start conversation.

_2:33 p.m._

_From: Ratliff_

_So how's ally?_

I raise an eyebrow while typing my reply.

_2:34 p.m. _

_To: Ratliff_

_Why do I read that question in your smirking voice?_

_2:34 p.m._

_From: Ratliff_

_Smirking voice?_

_2:35 p.m._

_To: Ratliff_

_Yeah the voice you have when you're smirking like you know something_

_2:36: p.m._

_From: Ratliff_

_I dunno…maybe you have something to hide. What is it?_

_2:39 p.m._

_To: Ratliff_

_I'm not hiding anything I swear…I just feel like you asked that question the same way you talk to rocky about rydel_

_2:40 p.m._

_From: Ratliff_

_I talk in a different voice when I ask rocky about riddle? _

_2:40 p.m. _

_From: Ratliff_

_Rider*_

_2:40 p.m._

_From: Ratliff_

_Real**_

_2:41 p.m._

_From: Ratliff_

_RYDEL*** _

_2:43 p.m._

_To: Ratliff_

_Yeah you have a distinct voice whenever you talk to rocky or my sister Real about their relationship_

_2:43 p.m._

_From: Ratliff_

_Shut up its not my fault autocorrect hates me and maybe I do assume certain things about you and ally so what_

_2:44 p.m._

_To: Ratliff_

_Whatever and theres nothing between me and ally even if she does like me I don't like her…but don't ask our calculus class…long story_

_2:46 p.m._

_From: Ratliff_

_Yeah whatever you say…_

_2:46 p.m._

_To: Ratliff_

_Ellington lee Ratliff I do not like ally and I never will ok I swear_

_2:48 p.m._

_From: Ratliff_

_Well even if you don't like her I still ship it with Kelly and ride_

_2:48 p.m._

_From: Ratliff_

_RYDEL* OMG ARE YOU KIDDING UGH FREAKING AUTOCORRECT SHOULD GO DIE_

_2:50 p.m._

_To: Ratliff_

_So should your ship of me and ally cuz itll never happen_

_2:51 p.m._

_From: Ratliff_

_Whatever you say bro…just don't throw away the key before you've even found the door _

The teacher tells us to put our books away, so I don't respond to Ratliff's text. But I don't think I was going to, anyway. He's annoying me with this 'ship' stuff. I still don't quite understand it, but I'm pretty sure it's short for 'relationship' considering the situation Ally and I are in. And so I'm assuming that 'shipping' us means that they want us to date. Honestly, I can't believe Ellington would take the girls' side on this.

I don't pay attention throughout the rest of English. Because even though I know I'll never like Ally, Ratliff's words are haunting me. _Don't throw away the key before you've even found the door_. At this point, I've already tossed the key and the door is nonexistent. But what if, after a while, I _do _find my way to the door? What if the door suddenly appears out of thin air? And what if the key isn't actually gone? I might be overthinking the metaphor, but what if Ratliff and the girls can see something changing within me that I've just been too stubborn to notice?

* * *

**BAM done with another chapter! Hmmm... I wonder what's gonna happen next? Did the last part confuse you? Cuz it confused me... Oh, also, I have to tell you guys something. I'll mention it in the disclaimer, but I wanna you guys to know it's true. The Evil Toaster reviewed my story. And he's alive. Which means my life is in danger. And right now I'm terrified. So uh... If I suddenly disappear from fanfiction, the Evil Toaster probably killed me. Thought you should know. Alright, so if you liked the chapter, put DOOR in a review! If you thought it was okay, put KEY in a review! And if you hated it, put THROW in the review! Thanks for reading and please review! Love you all more than guitar!**

**~Maddie :)**

**Maddie's Fancy Disclaimers: Part VI**

**Ross: Actually what? Is everything okay?**

**Me: Well uh not really. Remember the Evil Toaster?**

**Rydel: The one who tried to kill you for your author powers?**

**Me: Thats the only Evil Toaster out there.**

**Ratliff: That we know of...**

**Riker: QUIT SCARING HER!**

**Me: Yeah so anyway apparently he's not as dead as we thought he was...**

**Rocky: Those are never good words.**

***The Frozen characters are just kinda listening with their eyebrows raised***

**Me: ANYWAYS he commented on my story twice and it kinda somehow might have taken away all my power please don't freak out.**

**R5: WHAT?!**

**Olaf: Yeah um that's really unfortunate but uh can we get home now or...**

**Kristoff: No we can't **

**Olaf: Why not?**

**Elsa: Olaf clearly you're not understanding. Without her powers, she can't send us home.**

***Sven makes a noise and pushes Hans to the ground***

**Hans: OW!**

**Ana: You deserve it!**

**Olaf: Sven says why can't you just get your powers back?**

**Rocky: Obviously it's not that simple.**

**Ross: Or maybe it is... Maddie, where do your powers come from?**

**Me: Being an author. But they recharge with feels.**

**Ross: Then don't you guys see? Maybe if we give her enough feels, her powers will be blasted back into her!**

**Ratliff: Good plan! But where are we gonna get enough feels to do that?**

**Rydel: Yeah and there are only two couples in the room. That won't be enough.**

**Riker: I'll pull up pictures of her other ships kissing. Ross, you go call Laura. **

***Ross nods and calls Laura while Riker pulls up a bunch of pictures of all my other ships kissing but they made me close my eyes* **

**-5 minutes later-**

**Rocky: OPEN YOUR EYES! **

***I open my eyes and see pics of all my ships kissing***

***Then I see Ana/Kristoff kissing***

***Then I see Rydellington kissing***

***Then I see Raura kissing***

***I'm blown back by the power***

**Me: I think it worked!**

**Elsa: Good now send us home!**

**Me: Okay, okay!**

***I send them home and we finish watching the movie***

**The End**


	9. I Fall In Love

**I'm back for another chapter! Hey there friendsies! So uh I have an ear infection and IT HURTS LIKE HADES HIMSELF HAS CRAWLED INTO MY EAR AND IS SLOWLY CARRESSING IT WITH FIRE WHILE PLAYING HEAVY METAL MUSIC OWWWWWWWWWWWW! And um I'm super excited for Princesses & Prizes okay? Now, DISCLAIMER TIME! Prompt from xX-T-luv-Xx: Ryland's texting someone and people (you choose who) make bets on who he's texting, and a pink umbrella comes to life. (P.S. about the disclaimer thing. So a lot of people don't really like it, like at all. But a lot of people _do _like my disclaimers, so I'm gonna keep doing them. If you don't like them, just skip over them.)**

**Maddie's Fancy Disclaimers: Part VII**

***Ryland's texting someone***

**Me: *Whispers to the other guys and Rydel* I wonder who he's texting.**

**Rocky: Probably some girl.**

**Rydel: Yeah, probably. **

**Riker: I think he's texting the owner of a venue to get us a gig.**

**Ross: I agree with Riker.**

**Ratliff: Yeah, same.**

**Me: Well, I think Rocky's right. Let's make a bet. We'll see who he's texting, and the losing team has to do the disclaimer. Deal?**

**Everyone: Deal.**

**To Be Continued**

* * *

**I Fall In Love**

"Hey, you ready for the party?" I ask Tyler when she gets in my car. We're headed for Dallas's party that apparently we're being forced to go to.

"Totally!" she exclaims enthusiastically, her blonde ringlets bouncing up and down. She's wearing a strapless pink dress that's about two sizes too small and pink leather boots to match. Her lips are also a bright shade of pink and she even switched her cell phone case from a One Direction case to a pink case. All in all, she looks like some bubblegum fairy threw up on her.

"Then let's go." I drive the short distance to Dallas's house, arriving at about 7:20. The party's already in full swing. Tyler intertwines her fingers with mine and we go inside.

"Took ya long enough," Dallas says, coming up to us. I shrug.

"We're here now, and the party's just beginning."

"Yeah, yeah," Dallas replies. "Hey, Tyler."

"Hi, Dallas!" she says cheerily. He looks her up and down.

"Nice outfit."

"Hey, bro. She's my date tonight, yeah? Hands off," I say. Dallas raises his hands in surrender.

"C'mon, Austie! Let's go dance!" Tyler exclaims, pulling me to the dance floor where music is blaring so loud I can't even make out the song. Couples are dancing everywhere and Tyler and I can hardly maneuver through the crowd.

Once we finally find a place that has enough room for us, Tyler starts dancing crazily. Maybe she thinks I'll feel bad and help her dance better? I don't really know what's going through her mind, but I instantly feel annoyed. All she wants is attention, and it's quite obvious.

"You haven't said much," she says. I shrug.

"I've been too busy admiring you," I say with a wink. She giggles in a way that I think is supposed to be cute, but really isn't.

"Well, why don't you dance so I can admire you?" she says.

"Alright," I say. I start dancing-I'm actually not that bad. I took dance lessons for thirteen years, but then I quit so I could be on the football team. But I still have the moves. Tyler cheers for me.

"Wow, Austin! You're, like, _such _a good dancer! Did you like, go to dancer training camp or something?" I resist the urge to roll my eyes.

"Nah, I'm just naturally good at everything."

"Everything?" Tyler asks. I nod. She smirks.

"Let's see about that." Then, she kisses me. I ignore the disgust I feel and kiss her back, keeping an image of her beauty in my mind. And she really is gorgeous.

After a while, I pull back. She whines and pouts, so I make up an excuse.

"I just realized I was smudging your beautiful makeup, and that's not very nice of me."

"Oh my gosh, you're right!" she exclaims. "Thanks, Austin. You're a lifesaver! I'm gonna go make sure it's still fine." She rushes to the bathroom to fix her oh-so-important makeup. I take the opportunity to text Ally.

I take a picture of myself, making sure to use the flash so the pink lipstick on my face and my rumpled shirt and messy hair are visible.

_8:23 p.m._

_To: Ally_

_Help me_

I wait for a reply. Gosh, I'm _so _bored. I used to _love _these parties. But now I'd much rather be hanging out with my newfound friend.

_8:25 p.m._

_From: Ally_

_You look like you're having a lot of fun…Nice makeup_

_8:26 p.m._

_To: Ally_

_Haha very funny…just come up with an excuse to get me out of here cuz I have a feeling tyler has more where that came from_

_8:30 p.m._

_From: Ally_

_Alright I'll see what I can do_

Ally knows better than to come herself, right? My façade would be blown, and the populars would eat her alive. She already had a hard enough time earlier today; she wouldn't really try to brave them again. She's way too smart for that.

"I'm back, Austie!" Tyler says with a grin, coming back over to me. She leans in to kiss me again, and I know I can't back away or someone will get suspicious. Luckily, my phone rings after a few seconds. It's a blocked number.

"Sorry, babe, I gotta take this," I say. Tyler pouts but allows me to go to a corner to answer my phone.

"Hello?" I say.

"Hey, I'm out front. Hurry up," I hear. Then, the call ends. I smile slightly, but then put on a pretend disappointed look. I walk back over to Tyler.

"Hey. Listen, my parents just called me and my grandmother is really sick and they're making me come visit her. I'm sure Dallas would love to take you home after the party, kay?" Tyler sighs.

"Okay, _fine_. Ditch me to go see your sick old grandma," she says as though she's trying to guilt me into staying. I kiss her cheek.

"See you on Monday." She nods. I walk away, speeding up when I know she can no longer see me. I head out the door, and luckily no one notices me leaving. I look around for a minute until I see Ally through the windshield of a blue Prius. "Nice car," I say with a smirk as I get in the passenger seat. She rolls her eyes.

"I'm rescuing you. Don't make fun of my car."

"True. And thank you. So, _so _much," I say sincerely. She glances over at me.

"You really don't like them, do you?" she says.

"Not at all," I tell her. "I'd _much _rather hang out with you." She smiles slightly but keeps her eyes on the road.

"What, is your gorgeous new cheerleader girlfriend not into you as much as you think _I _am?" she asks.

"Quite on the contrary," I say in a fake British accent. "But seriously, Tyler's been in love with me since we met. She's gorgeous, but she's also dumber than Dallas. I'd rather spend time with a girl equally as gorgeous who's actually intelligent, and who I _want _to hang out with," I say, nudging her. She blushes and sends me another glance.

"You really think I'm as pretty as Tyler?" I nod.

"Mmhm," I say. She blushes even redder.

"But I'm not a blonde-haired, blue-eyed beach babe from California with a perfect tan," she says, confused.

"True. But you _are _a brown-haired, brown-eyed beach babe from _Miami _who is smart, caring, and adorable." I reach over and boop her nose.

"Don't boop my nose when I'm driving," she says. "And thanks."

"So, Strawberry, where are we going?" I ask.

"Are you gonna make up a nickname for me every time I blush in front of you?" I nod.

"Yup." I can tell she's not surprised.

"Whatever. Back to your question, I thought I was just taking you home," she says.

"C'mon, Als. It's only…" I pause to look at the clock, "8:47 and it's a Friday night! Why don't we go get dinner or something? I mean, we haven't even been friends for a week. I know I said I 'did my research,' but I really hardly know you."

"I have plans," she says.

"What, doing homework?" I ask as a joke.

"Maybe…" she says quietly.

"You're kidding, right?" I ask. She shrugs. "Okay, that's it. I'm taking you to pizza right away."

"What if I don't want to go for pizza?" she asks.

"You don't have a choice," I tell her. "You need pizza and a super awesome best friend to eat it with."

"Fine, I'll call Trish," she says. I see the smile she's trying to hold back.

"I meant me," I deadpan. "C'mon, don't you want to at least a _little_? When's the last time you went out on a Friday night?"

"Never…" she mumbles. My eyes widen.

"Are you _kidding_? It's like you're not even a teenager! You are a disgrace to the teenagers of the world, and so now there's no arguing. We're going to pizza. It is law," I say.

"Fine, _fine_! I'll go to your stupid pizza. But I won't be happy about it." I shrug.

"Then my job is to change that." She rolls her eyes but drives to the closest pizza place.

"You're really bossy, you know that?" she asks as she pulls into the parking lot.

"I prefer the term _imperious_." She parks the car and looks at me.

"I am shocked that you know what that means."

"So my attempts at impressing you worked, yeah?" I say playfully. She nods.

"You, Austin Moon, know how to impress a girl." I chuckle as we walk inside the restaurant.

"Table for two," I tell the hostess. She nods and leads us to a table in the back.

"Thanks," Ally and I say simultaneously.

"So," I say, "you _seriously _have never gone out on a Friday night?" She shrugs.

"I'm the loser of the school. There was never a point."

"That's not true," I say. She raises an eyebrow.

"Maybe not to _you _anymore, but everyone else thinks I'm still your target. But don't feel bad," she says quickly. I sigh.

"I'm sorry. Again."

"Let's not talk about this anymore. You said you hardly know me. What do you want me to tell you?" she says. I think for a minute, thankful she changed the subject so I don't feel guilty.

"What's the deal with you and performing?" I ask. "We've been in AP music together since freshman year, and you haven't performed _once_. Why is that?" She sighs and looks at me as though she's analyzing me. "C'mon, Als. You can trust me. I promise." She takes a deep breath.

"I know. And I promise I'll tell you. Just not now, okay? It's like you with the populars. You deserve to know, but I'm not quite ready yet. Think you can wait a little?" I nod.

"Of course." But now I'm really curious as to what's going on. I won't push it, though, because I understand that whatever the problem is must be hard to talk about. She'll tell me when she's ready, and as a good friend I'll wait.

"Thanks."

"Hey, I'm Jerry and I'm gonna be your waiter today," a man says, coming to our table. "What can I get you?"

"I'll have four slices of Hawaiian pizza and the lady will have…" I trail off.

"A slice of pepperoni," Ally finishes. Jerry smiles.

"I'll have that out in about ten minutes," he says. Then, he leans over to me and whispers, "First date?" I can tell Ally hears it.

"W-we're not on a date," I stutter in surprise.

"Just friends," Ally says at the same time.

"Uh-huh," Jerry says in doubt. Then, he walks away.

"Well, that was awkward," I note.

"Little bit," Ally agrees, her cheeks a light shade of pink. I smile fondly at the sight.

"So, it's your turn to ask me something," I say.

"I dunno what to ask."

"Anything. I'm an open book," I tell her.

"Alright," she says, "so why are you so set on popularity if you hate the people associated with it?"

"I already told you," I reply. "Popularity increases my chances of a record deal. If I'm a likable person, record labels will assume I can gain fans easily, and so they'll be more likely to sign me."

"I guess that logic _kinda _makes sense," she says, "but you're _so _talented. I'm sure that as soon as labels hear what you've got, they'll be lining up to sign you, even if you become some nose-picker nerd boy."

"Thanks," I say, "but there are other people better than me. I need as much help as I can get."

"I seriously doubt that. I've seen you perform in music. You're amazing."

"I'm not that great," I say modestly.

"Whatever," she says, rolling her eyes. "You're just saying that so you don't seem like the conceited jerk you used to be." I shrug.

"I'm sure you're better than me."

"Ha, as if."

"Here's your pizza," Jerry says, coming back and giving us our food. "Enjoy." We thank him and dig in to our food. I stack my four pieces of Hawaiian pizza on top of each other and take a bite.

"Mmm," I say in satisfaction. Ally swallows her small bite of pepperoni.

"You're such a boy," she says, rolling her eyes.

"What do you mean?" I ask, my voice muffled by the pizza still in my mouth.

"You ordered four pieces of pizza, you're eating them all at once, and now you're talking with your mouth full. Not exactly a turn-on," she says.

"Good," I say, "my job is to turn you _off_." Ally ignores me.

"And Hawaiian pizza? Really? Who puts ham on pizza? Not to mention _pineapple_? Isn't it all warm and tomatoey and disgusting?"

"No, it's delicious," I say, taking another bite. A string of cheese connects the bite in my mouth to the pizza.

"Ugh, definitely getting turned off," she says, closing her eyes.

"But seriously," I say, "Hawaiian pizza is _the bomb_. Try some." I hold out one slice to her.

"After you ate it? No way," she says.

"C'mon, just try it. You try Hawaiian pizza, and I'll try pepperoni." She raises an eyebrow. "Fun fact," I say, "I've never had pepperoni pizza." Yeah, I was kinda deprived of childhood. Ally almost chokes on her pizza.

"You _what_?" I shrug.

"My entire family hates pepperoni, so they never get it. Don't judge me."

"Okay, you have to try pepperoni," she says. "But I am _not _eating pizza you've already eaten."

"C'mon, it's practically like kissing me," I say with a wink.

"Even more reason not to," she says, scrunching her nose.

"Yeah, whatever," I say. "I heard you talking to the girls about that other dream. I believe you said kissing me was the most amazing thing you've ever felt?" Her eyes widen.

"You were eavesdropping again?!" I shrug.

"Oops." Ally rolls her eyes.

"Whatever. It was a dream. Just give me the pizza." She snatches the slice out of my hand while I grab the pepperoni piece from her plate.

"Okay," I say, "One, two, three." We both take a bite of our respective pizzas, and our eyes widen at the same time.

"Hawaiian pizza is…"

"Pepperoni…" We look at each other again.

"I'm keeping this," Ally tells me. I nod.

"And I'm keeping this." I put the pepperoni on top of my other three slices of Hawaiian and take a bite. "Oh yeah," I say, closing my eyes. "_This _is amazing."

"Chew with your mouth closed," Ally instructs.

"Shhh, I'm having a moment. Ally, I think I'm in love."

"Hawaiian is so much better," she says. "Austin, you have some competition." I take another bite.

"I wanna marry this pizza. Ally, I'm marrying this pizza."

"I'll invite you to my wedding if you invite me to yours." We finish our pizza quickly.

"That," I say, "was amazing."

"How come I don't eat pizza more often?" she asks. I shrug.

"At least you will now. I'm happy I've made a difference in your life."

"So, about you eavesdropping again," she says, her eyebrow raised.

"Uh, check please!" I say, signaling over a waitress.

"I'll go get your waiter, but may I offer you two our special couples' shake?" she says, smiling.

"We're not a couple," I say, sounding a bit whiney. She looks doubtful, but she walks away. "Gosh, can't two friends go out to dinner together without being assumed to be a couple?" I ask Ally. She shrugs.

"Apparently not." I sigh.

"Here's your check, sir," Jerry comes over before I can say anything else. "Take as long as you need." He walks away.

"I'm paying," I say before Ally can take out her wallet. "No arguing. Consider it a thank you for rescuing me tonight." She sighs but nods. I pay the check and we leave the restaurant.

* * *

"Wait," I say laughing as we pull into my neighborhood, "so you seriously invited your teacher to your birthday party in third grade?" Ally rolls her eyes.

"Yes!" she says. "My only friend was Trish, and I had a really nice third grade teacher, okay?"

"Well, did she show up?"

"No," Ally mutters. "She said she had work to do, but then my mom saw a Facebook picture of her just sitting alone at home." I laugh even harder.

"Oh my gosh," I say, wiping a tear from my eye, "that is the funniest thing ever." We come to a stop in front of my house.

"Thanks for tonight," she says. "I forgot how fun it is not just sitting alone at home." I chuckle.

"Thank _you _for getting me away from that party." She shrugs.

"Parties were never my thing…I could relate with not wanting to be there."

"Well either way, thanks." I lean over and give her a kiss on the cheek. A _friendly _kiss. I don't _like _her, remember? My goal is to get her to stop liking me. But she still blushes. "Night, Als." I wink and get out of the car, sending her one last wave before walking through my front door. I watch through the window as she drives away, and I can't help but wonder what I'd be doing if I hadn't become friends with Ally.

When I can no longer see her car, I turn around, only to find an annoyed-looking Rydel on the couch.

"Uh, hey Rydel," I say.

"Don't 'Hey Rydel' me, Austin! Where were you?"

"Dallas's party," I say. She rolls her eyes.

"You could've told me that! Mom and Dad grounded me for not knowing where you were and almost called the cops!"

"Why didn't they?" I ask. She sighs and looks at the ground.

"It would look bad if they didn't know where their son was. Might make business do bad at the mattress store." I purse my lips. Of course. They care more about business than their own son. I pull Rydel in for a hug.

"I'm sorry, Delly. I should've told you." She hugs me back tightly. When we pull away, I ask, "Where are Mom and Dad now?"

"Asleep," she replies. "Anyway, who was it that dropped you off?"

"Ally," I say. "Turns out, the party wasn't as fun as I thought, so Ally picked me up and we went out for pizza. Turns out, our family is wrong about pepperoni. It's _amazing_." Rydel smirks.

"You were out with Ally? Alone?" I nod.

"But I don't _like _her," I say.

"Whatever you say," she says. "I'm gonna go to bed. See you in the morning." She pats my arm and heads to bed. I sigh.

Why is it that everyone either thinks we _are _a couple, or that we _will be_? Ally may like me, but I don't like her. Ratliff seems to think I'm gonna fall for her, and Rydel is sounding like she thinks I already have. But I know I won't. It would ruin everything.

I get ready for bed and climb under my warm covers. I try to push the thoughts of Ally and Rydel and Ratliff out of my head as my eyes grow heavy and I drift to sleep.

* * *

**Yup! That's it! By the way, people are rushing me to make Auslly happen, but this isn't one of those stories. In order for it to work, I have to stretch it out. But I hope what I _am _doing is enough to hold you guys over for a while. But as of right now, Austin does NOT have a crush on Ally. Also, I need more disclaimer prompts! And sorry for the crappiness of the one I'm doing now. **

**Maddie's Fancy Disclaimers: Part VII**

**Me: So Ryland, who you texting? **

**Ryland: No one! *Hides his phone***

**Ross: C'mon, just-**

***The door bursts down to reveal a pink umbrella***

***The umbrella hops in***

**Pink Umbrella: What do you mean you don't feel that way about me?!**

**Ryland: Just that. You're a pink umbrella, and I'm a human. It would never work.**

**Rocky: Is that thing...Alive?**

**Riker: And in love with Ryland?**

**Me: I'm not even surprised anymore. **

**Rydel: So _that's _who you were texting? **

**Ryland: Yeah...**

**Ratliff: DANG IT!**

**Me: Ugh now we ALL have to do the disclaimer!**

**Everyone But Ryland and the Pink Umbrella: Maddie doesn't own Austin & Ally or anything else you recognize.**

**Pink Umbrella: Ugh! Ryland, I'm never speaking to you again! *Storms away* (hehe... storms... cuz it's an umbrella...)**

**Ryland: I'M OKAY WITH THAT! *Rolls his eyes* Umbrellas these days.**

**The End**


	10. The Amusement Park

**Hey, guys! OMG I GOT 19 REVIEWS LAST CHAPTER! AND WE REACHED OVER 100 REVIEWS! GUYS YOU ARE SO AMAZING AND I'M SENDING A VIRTUAL HUG TO EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU BECAUSE I LOVE YOU! THANK YOU SO SO SO SO SOOOOOO MUCH! So, I'm sorry about how long this chapter is, I really am, but I couldn't split it up. It's a bit of a turning point, I guess you could say. So it's really important and I don't think any other chapters are gonna be this long, I promise. I'm not gonna do a disclaimer this chapter cuz I don't wanna annoy you guys with it when this chapter is so important. So, READ ON!**

* * *

**The Amusement Park**

I yawn and take another sip of coffee as I drive to Ally's house. Usually, I don't wake up until noon at the earliest on Saturdays, but today I have a surprise for Ally, which required me to get up at seven. Finally, I come to a stop in front of her house. I finish my coffee and get out of the car.

Her front door opens before I can even ring the doorbell. But Ally's not the one who opened it. A man in a t-shirt and pajama pants opens the door, and I assume he's Ally's father.

"Hi," I say awkwardly. "Is Ally there?"

"Why? Who are you? Her boyfriend?" he asks.

"N-no, sir. I'm not her boyfriend, just a friend. I'm Austin Moon," I introduce myself, holding out my hand.

"Lester Dawson," he says, shaking it firmly.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Dawson," I say politely. "Oh, and as for why I wanted to know if she's here, I have a surprise for her." Mr. Dawson looks me up and down.

"I don't like you, Austin Moon," he says. "Leather jackets and wallet chains and messy blonde hair don't mean a good influence. I don't want you spending time with my daughter."

"All due respect, sir, but maybe you should get to know me instead of judging me by my fashion sense," I say. Mr. Dawson narrows his eyes.

"I don't need to know you to know what you want with Ally."

"I promise, it isn't-"

"Dad?" I hear from somewhere inside the house. "Who are you talking to?"

"Nobody, sweetheart," Mr. Dawson calls back. I hear footsteps and Ally comes down the stairs.

"Austin?" she says, rubbing her eyes. She probably just woke up-her hair is sticking up everywhere, she's wearing pajamas, and she's walking around in slippers. She walks over to stand next to her dad. "What are you doing here?"

"Well," I say, "I wanted to take you to a new amusement park that opened up last week, but I just heard you have plans, so I'll go," I say, not wanting to badmouth her dad in front of her dad.

"What? I don't have plans," she says, looking at her father with a confused expression. "Dad, can I go? Pretty please?" she asks, giving him the puppy eyes. He sighs.

"Fine. But no funny business," he says sternly. "Nothing dangerous."

"I promise I'll bring her home happy and in one piece, sir," I say.

"Well, I'm not exactly ready at the moment, but I'll get ready really quick and then meet you at your house so we can go, okay?" Ally says. I nod.

"Sounds like a plan." She runs back upstairs. "I should go," I tell her dad. "Nice meeting you, Mr. Dawson."

"I still don't like you, nor do I trust you. But apparently my daughter does. Give me a reason to change my mind," he says.

"I won't let you down, Mr. Dawson," I say. "I'll have you begging Ally to invite me over." He chuckles slightly at that.

"Sense of humor. Not bad. But you'll have to do better to get on my good side." I nod.

"Have a good day, Mr. Dawson," I say politely. He nods curtly and shuts the door, and I return to my car.

Really, I don't blame Mr. Dawson for not liking me. I mean, I _did _bully his daughter for three and a half years. But I don't think he knows that. Either way, I don't think I seem like the 'good boy' type, though I'm not _actually _a bad boy. At least Mr. Dawson wants Ally safe and cares about her. Unlike my parents. I'd give anything for that kind of overprotection. Though it may not be fun to go through, I'd at least know they care enough about me to be so protective. Because right now, my parents don't even care about me enough to call the cops when I went missing, just because it could've meant bad business.

When I get home, I make myself some chocolate chip pancakes and eat them while I wait for Ally. Just as I'm swallowing the last bite, I hear a faint knock at the door. I smile and shake my head, knowing she didn't ring the bell because she was afraid of waking everyone up. Too bad there's no one home. My parents are working and Rydel's at Rocky's cousin's soccer game. I answer the door.

"Hey, Als," I say. "You look nice." She's wearing a navy blue dress with brightly colored flowers on it. The dress is strapless and it flows to just above her knees. She's wearing navy blue high-top converse and she has a pink bow in her hair that matches the few pink flowers on her dress.

"Thanks," she says, her cheeks turning slightly pink. "So you ready to go?" I nod and we walk out to my car.

"So, it's kinda far away-about an hour drive. It opens at eight, and I wanted us to have as much time as possible, that's why I got to your house so early. Sorry for waking you and your dad up." She waves her hand as if to say 'Don't worry about it.'

"So any reason why you're suddenly taking me to an amusement park?" I shrug.

"Nope. I wanted to go and since you never go out, I assumed you hadn't been to many amusement parks, so I was like 'hey, I'll take Ally.'" She nods. Then, she winces and grabs her neck. "Hey," I say, quickly glancing over at her before looking back at the road, "are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," she says. "I just slept on my neck weird and now it hurts. But I'm okay."

"Here," I say. I reach on hand over and massage her neck in the way Rydel taught me to do when she was having the same problem. Ally closes her eyes and sighs contentedly. "Better?" I ask. She nods.

"Much better. Thanks." I take my hand away and put it back on the steering wheel. "How'd you know that would work?"

"My sister did the same thing and Rocky had massaged her so she taught me how in case she needed it and Rocky wasn't there."

"Oh," Ally says, nodding. "Well, that is a _lifesaver_."

"Yeah. Good thing you're feeling better or it'd be really unfortunate to be on the rollercoasters with a hurt neck," I say.

"Wait, _rollercoasters_?" Ally asks, going pale.

"Yeah," I say, dragging out the word in a confused manner. "What else would we go on at an amusement park?"

"The spinning rides, the free fall rides, all the other rides _except _rollercoasters," Ally says.

"What do you have against rollercoasters?" I ask her.

"I'm deathly afraid of them. Like, passing out afraid of them."

"Well, today we're gonna change that. We'll start with all the rides you wanna go on, and then we'll just gradually get to the rollercoasters," I say.

"O-okay," Ally stutters weakly.

"Hey," I say, reaching my hand over and putting it on top of hers-which is gripping the armrest so tight her knuckles are white. "It's okay. My job is to get you over your fears. I promise you'll be safe with me. I won't let anything bad happen to you." I feel her grip on the armrest loosen slightly as she looks at me. I give her hand a squeeze.

We ride in silence the rest of the way to the amusement park, but I make sure I always have physical contact with Ally. Whether it's having my hand on top of hers, having our elbows touching on the armrests, or giving her shoulder a comforting squeeze, I'm always touching her. She seems like the kind of person who would be comforted by physical contact, and I want her as calm as possible. I hate seeing her so scared, but if I'm gonna help her get over her fear, she's gonna be scared at first.

When we get there, I give the worker our tickets and we go into the park. It's _huge _and all the rides are free to go on.

"Might I suggest the Tunnel of Love," the man says as we walk through the entrance. Ally and I ignore him and keep walking.

"I feel like we're gonna have to start getting used to comments like that," I say after a while. She nods.

"People just don't understand that not every guy and girl hanging out together is a couple."

"Tell me about it," I agree. "So, what do you wanna go on first?" I make a huge sweeping arm gesture around the park. Ally looks around for a while.

"I have no idea," she says quietly. "There's so much to do."

"Then why don't we start over there," I say, pointing to the ride closest to the entrance, "and work our way around all the easy rides, and then start working our way through the rollercoasters?"

"I like the first part of the plan," she says.

"Then let's start with focusing on that, okay? Don't even _think _about the second part yet." Ally nods. I smile and we walk to the first ride, which is the Tilt-a-Whirl. Luckily, the park isn't too busy-I don't really know why-so we get on quickly.

"I was watching this one while you were talking to the attendant," she says as we pull the lap bar over ourselves. "It's a pretty intense Tilt-a-Whirl." I grin.

"Good. This'll be fun." We hear the buzzer that signals that the ride is about to start.

At first, we spin slowly, going over the small hills without a problem. But soon, it starts speeding up, and Ally and I end up screaming our heads off and cracking up. Sure, Tilt-a-Whirls aren't scary, but this one was so fast you couldn't help but scream. I get hit in the face with Ally's long hair more than once, and the smell of strawberries seems to be permanently etched in my nose. All too soon, the ride stops. Ally laughs as she pats down her messy hair.

"I'd say that's a good way to start off the day, yeah?" she says. I smile, nodding in agreement. "Is my hair still okay?" she asks, turning around so I can see the pink bow.

"Yes, Ally, your hair is _fine_," I say, acting annoyed. She chuckles.

"Just checking. So, what's next?" she asks as we walk off the ride.

"The Magic Carpets," I say, pointing to another spinning ride. On this ride, you sit on benches that look like magic carpets, and they're all set in a circle. There are bigger hills than the Tilt-a-Whirl, and this one goes faster. Ally and I get on and pull down the lap bar. I make sure to let Ally get in first so I sit closest to the outside.

"Gosh, I feel like this one's gonna be even worse," Ally says as the ride starts slowly. I nod.

"You're probably right, my friend. You're probably right." The ride speeds up and eventually it's going so fast Ally is pressed up against me from the force of the ride. She's really light, so she can be moved a lot easier. I'm pressed tightly against the side of the car, and it's starting to hurt a bit. We both scream and laugh like we did on the Tilt-a-Whirl, except more. Finally, the ride starts slowing down.

"Man, that one was _really _intense," Ally says, scooting away from me when she can. I grin.

"Yeah it was. I can't wait for the-wait, what's going on?" I ask. We had slowed to a stop, but then we started going backwards. We're speeding up and Ally is pressed against me again.

"Now we're going backwards!" she exclaims.

"Yeah, thanks, Sherlock!" I say, spitting her hair out of my mouth. Whenever we go over a hill, she literally floats above the bench and slams back down. I'm actually a bit worried she'll fly out of the ride, so I wrap an arm around her waist to keep her in the seat. Because my arm is now around her instead of between us, Ally gets pressed even farther into my side. Now, she's half on my lap, which means she's flying even farther up when we go over hills. I tighten my grip around her.

Finally, the ride slows to a stop for good. Ally scoots away from me again, blushing. I chuckle.

"_Now _what are you blushing about?" She shakes her head, not replying. "The way I was trying to make sure you didn't fly off the ride? You weigh, like, sixty pounds, and every time we went down a hill you'd fly up. The lap bar was loose and I didn't want you getting hurt."

"I weight more than sixty pounds," Ally says, rolling her eyes, "and I wouldn't have flown out."

"Just taking precautions, Als. Besides, wasn't all that slamming back down hurting your butt?" She gives me a look, and I shrug.

"I guess…" she says awkwardly.

"Then I believe the words you're looking for are 'Thank you, Austin, for protecting me. You're my knight in shining armor, and I was the damsel in distress,'" I say, mocking a girly voice. She rolls her eyes.

"Thank you for caring," she says. We get off the ride.

"So," I say as we walk, "is it your mission to go on every ride at this amusement park?"

"Not _every _ride…" she mumbles.

"_Other _than rollercoasters," I revise my question. She nods.

"Yeah. It'd be cool to say I went on every ride at an amusement park, and I know you're gonna end up getting me on the rollercoasters, so I'll be able to." I stop walking at the next ride.

"Then our next stop, Ally dear, is the Tunnel of Love." Ally stops next to me and looks up at the bright pink sign that says _Tunnel of Love _in red and white letters. There are hearts _everywhere _around the ride, and pretty much every couple in line is making out.

"You know, maybe we don't have to go on _every _ride," she says, starting to walk away. I grab her arm and pull her back.

"You said you wanted to, and I wanna go on every ride, too. It's only gonna be awkward if you make it awkward, Als." She sighs.

"Fine. But no commenting about you-know-what while we're in there."

"No promises," I say in a sing-song voice. She groans. "Hey, this is gonna be fun. We can make fun of all the cheesy love stuff inside and see if we can manage to annoy any other couples, considering most of them will just be making out. Have an open mind, okay? I've been on these kinds of rides before, and we don't even have to sit that close to each other. The cars are huge." Ally raises an eyebrow.

"You've been on other Tunnel of Love rides?"

"Yeah, with Kira," I say. "But, you know, she sat _really _close, 'cause, well-"

"She liked the make-out part of it?" Ally guesses. I nod and shudder at the memory.

"So… Much… Lip gloss…" Ally laughs as we move up in line. She looks at the couple in front of us in disgust. They've been making out since before we got in line.

"Do people ever take a breath?" she whispers. I shrug.

"I don't understand why they find that so fun. It bothers everyone else," I say.

"Unless everyone else is too busy locking lips to notice."

"But not _everyone _is too busy locking lips," I say, gesturing between the two of us. Finally, the couple in front of us breaks apart. Unfortunately, there's still a long line ahead of us. This ride is pretty popular for some reason.

"You know they only allow _couples _on this ride, right?" the guy asks, his greasy black hair falling in his face. He flips it to the side, and drops of sweat splash on Ally's face. She makes a gagging expression and wipes her face.

"What, do they make you prove you're a couple before you go on, or something?" I ask. He shrugs.

"That's what the rumors say."

"Well, then good thing we're a couple, right?" I say, putting an arm around Ally. Luckily, she knows to just go along with my act.

"Right," she says, laughing nervously. But I'm the only one who recognizes it as nervous laughter.

"If you're a couple, then why are you so disgusted with everyone else kissing?" the girl says snottily, flipping her blonde hair over her shoulder.

"'Cause we're taking things slow," I say. "We actually respect ourselves and others enough to not make out in public 24/7." The girl rolls her blue eyes.

"Unless you're not _actually _a couple."

"Why do you even care?" Ally asks.

"Because why would anyone who's not a couple go on the Tunnel of Love?" the blonde replies.

"Exactly," I say, "why would we go on if we weren't a couple?" The guy shrugs.

"Just keep down your yapping, kay?" he says.

"Whatever," I reply. The couple goes back to making out and Ally and I give each other a look. I return my arm back to my side and Ally reaches up to whisper something in my ear.

"The one time we _want _people to think we're a couple…" I laugh at that.

"Just our luck, yeah?" She laughs and nods. We take another step up in line. "So," I say, trying to distract the both of us from the snogging couples all around us, "have you started the other songs for music?" She nods.

"I have all of them done, except the one I have to sing to you. For some reason, I'm drawing a blank."

"Yeah, I haven't done any of them. If you didn't already know, I kinda suck at writing songs." Ally chuckles.

"I know. But when we were writing 'You Can Come to Me,' you were coming up with good lyrics."

"Anyway, maybe we can hang out and help each other with the songs sometime soon. You could help me with writing my other three, and I'll help you write the one you have to sing to me." She nods.

"That's not a bad idea."

"But until then, I think you're just overthinking it. Write from your heart."

"That's what I'm _trying _to do," she says.

"You'll get it," I say. "You're the best songwriter ever." She smiles.

"Thanks." Finally, we get to the front of the line.

"There have been new rules set that say that couples must prove they're couples before going on any Tunnel of Love rides," the attendant says. "Are you guys a couple?" We nod.

"Duh. Why else would we be going on the Tunnel of Love?" I say.

"I'm still gonna need you guys to prove it. Kiss her," the attendant says.

"Fine," I say. I lean over and kiss Ally on the cheek like I did last night. The attendant rolls his eyes.

"On the lips, you idiot. I don't make the rules. Prove you're a couple, or don't go on the ride." It's on my bucket list to go on _every _ride at an amusement park, and today's a perfect opportunity to do so. "At least five seconds," he adds, flipping through some papers with rules listed on them. I turn to Ally and raise my eyebrows as if to ask for permission. She looks nervous, but she nods slowly, and I know she wants to go on every ride just as much as I do. I know you may be thinking that that's kind of a dumb reason to kiss-just so we can go on every ride-but we also waited for 45 minutes in the middle of a bunch of kissing couples. And neither of us wanted to go through that for nothing.

"Are ya gonna kiss or what? You're holding up the line!" the guy behind us says.

I give Ally one last chance to back out. I try to act cool about it, but I'm pretty nervous myself. I'm about to kiss my fairly new best friend, who just so happens to like me. What if this kiss makes her like me more? What if it makes everything awkward? Ally nods once again, looking up at me with cautious eyes.

I let my eyes flutter closed as I wrap my arms around her waist and kiss her. I feel her arms go around my neck as she kisses me back. _One_. I tilt my head a bit more so our noses aren't bumping into each other so uncomfortably. _Two_. I feel her long eyelashes tickle my cheekbones as I pull her closer. _Three_. I inhale the strawberry scent that seems to follow her everywhere. _Four_. I feel my lips curving up into a smile as I kiss the short brunette. _Five._

We jump apart, staring at each other with wide eyes. I regain my composure first and reposition myself next to Ally.

"See?" I say to the attendant. "Totally a couple." He narrows his eyes.

"Alright, fine. But if I find out you two were lying, I'll have security kick you outta here faster than you can say 'snogging.'"

"Good thing we're not lying, then," I reply. Then, I gently lead Ally to the ride. She gets in one side of the heart-shaped car, and I get in the other. We sit in awkward silence as the ride starts. Unfortunately, this is a twenty-minute ride. I don't know why it's so long and so popular, but I'm not happy about it. At all.

"You know," Ally finally says, "you could've told me about the part where we'd have to, I dunno, _kiss _to get on the ride!"

"Whoa, don't pin this on me! I had no idea! Those are new rules!" I say. "I gave you plenty of time to back out." She sighs.

"Whatever. Let's just forget about it."

"Forget about what?" I ask. She looks over at me with a smile.

"I dunno. I forgot."

As if I could forget about it. I don't know what happened exactly, but I _do _know that by the time the fifth second came around, I was wishing for five more. But as I look at her now, I don't get butterflies. My heart doesn't speed up. I don't _like _her.

But I do like kissing her.

And that could prove to be a problem.

"Oh my gosh, Als, look at this," I say, pointing to the scene we're going past on my side of the car. She scoots over next to me to get a better look. The scene is of Cupid shooting a couple with his arrows, and then hearts exploding all around them as they kiss.

"That's horrifying," she says as we transfer into the next room. Now, it looks as though we're on water and 'Kiss the Girl' from _The Little Mermaid _is playing through the speakers. I realize they've recreated the boat scene from the movie. "Aw, I love this movie!" Ally says. "Maybe this ride isn't _completely _horrifying."

"Except when there's a camera taking pictures of couples kissing as they leave this scene," I say, pointing ahead of us. "You thinking what I'm thinking?" She nods.

As we leave the room, we both put on weird faces for the camera. We laugh after we see the flash.

In the next room, all we see are a bunch of pink, purple, red, and white hearts. Some of them have mirrors in them. I see couples in front of us cuddling and looking at themselves in the mirrors.

"Ugh, all this coupley stuff is getting on my nerves," I say. "This is the longest Tunnel of Love ride I've ever been on."

"Maybe that's not such a bad thing," Ally says. "I mean, on all the other ones you've been on, you were making out with Kira against your will. On the longest one though, it's just me you're with, yeah?"

"This is true," I say. "But still. I get enough coupley stuff listening to Rydel gush about Rocky. They'd probably love this ride." Ally nods.

"Yeah. Especially because…" she trails off, coughing awkwardly. But I know what she was gonna say. Cue the awkward silence.

"Hey," I say halfheartedly after a while, "there's our picture." I point to the screens mounted on the walls. Only one of them doesn't show a couple kissing. We laugh at how ridiculous we look.

As soon as we get through the picture room, we end up back outside and the ride ends. We get off quickly and walk away. I can tell we're both still trying and failing to forget what happened before the ride. I can't imagine what Ally must be going through right now. Especially since she had that dream that could've just been proven to be a reality. And as for me, well, I don't even know what's going on. As I said before, I know I don't have a crush on her, but I also know that I want to kiss her again. I don't understand why, but I _do _understand that forgetting isn't an option.

Ally is walking a bit of a distance away from me. I guess it's not that far, maybe three feet, but earlier our arms would touch when we walked. I look over and see she's biting her lip uncomfortably.

"Maybe forgetting isn't working as well as we hoped," I say. She turns to look at me.

"Yeah, well it's only been twenty minutes."

"But maybe we _shouldn't _forget," I say. "And instead just, I dunno, accept it. We kissed. The sky is blue. The sun rises in the east and sets in the west. There's nothing we can do to undo it or change it, and we both know we can't forget it. So let's just make peace with it and stop being so awkward." She nods.

"Besides, it was only acting. It didn't mean anything."

"Right." Ally walks closer to me after that. "So, our next ride is the Ferris Wheel." Ally gulps and looks up at it. I see the color drain from her face. "Don't tell me you're afraid of heights."

"I won't, but that doesn't mean it's not true." I sigh.

"Well, we haveto go through with our 'every ride' pact. Especially after the Tunnel of Love. So be a big girl and c'mon," I say. I start walking towards the Ferris Wheel and Ally reluctantly follows. "Don't worry. You're safe with me, remember? I promised you right when we got here I wouldn't let anything bad happen to you. And I keep my promises." Ally nods and we get on the ride.

The car is kind of small, and Ally and I are a bit squished. I wrap an arm around her so I can make more room and so I can try to comfort her. I rub her shoulder gently as the ride starts moving. Ally is still really pale, and she's gripping the lap bar tightly.

"It's okay, Als," I say. "Close your eyes." She does as I say. The Ferris Wheel creaks as it stops to let on more passengers, and Ally yelps and buries her head in my shoulder.

Now that I think about it, by the way we act, I'm not all that surprised so many people assume we're a couple.

"You're fine, Ally. I promise everything will be okay. I won't let anything bad happen to you." I keep saying comforting things like that until we stop at the top. "Wow," I say breathlessly. The view is beautiful.

The city stretches out before me, colorful and bustling with life. I can see all the way down to the beach and the ocean. I even see the little cove I used to go to as a kid that hardly anyone knows about. You have to go through a little cave to get there, and it's quiet and peaceful. While I'm thinking about it, I make a mental note to take Ally there sometime.

"Ally, look at this," I say. "Open your eyes slowly, and don't freak out. We're pretty high up, but the view is amazing." Ally opens her eyes, but when she sees how high we are, she clutches me tighter and shuts her eyes again. "C'mon, Als. It's worth it. I'm right here." Ally sighs and opens her eyes again.

"Whoa," she says. "You were right. This is gorgeous." I nod. "I can't believe how far you can see from up here."

"Well, that's what being high up does," I say sarcastically. She laughs lightly.

"I guess I was so afraid of falling, I never opened my eyes to see how amazing the view is."

"Ya think?" I say, raising an eyebrow. But that comment made me kinda uncomfortable. I don't know why, but it reminds me of what Ratliff told me about keys and doors the other day. But Ally's just talking about her fear of heights. It has nothing to do with my nonexistent feelings for her. I'm being _way _too paranoid about this.

The ride starts moving again. Ally looks a little nervous, but she's a lot more relaxed than before. We're silent for the rest of the ride.

For the next three hours, we go on all the other easy rides. Ally is having the time of her life, and it's nice to be the one who's showing her how to have fun. I'm having a blast too, but I'm looking forward to getting to the rollercoasters.

"Okay," I say as we get off the bumper cars, "that was the last easy ride." Ally nods.

"I know."

"You know what comes next, right?" She nods again.

"Unfortunately."

"Don't worry, Als. It's gonna be fun. C'mon." I grab her hand and run to the smallest rollercoaster in the park. It really is small. It's so short, you go through it twice in one ride. "You ready?" I ask as we get on the rollercoaster.

"Nope," she says. "But yet here I am."

"You're gonna be fine." She takes a deep breath and nods uncertainly.

The ride starts. We climb the small hill slowly. Although it's small for a rollercoaster, it's still pretty high up. Ally looks over the side nervously.

"Hey," I say, gently grabbing her chin and turning her head towards me. "Just look at me. Concentrate on me, okay? You're fine. Just focus on me." She nods and I can see all her concentration go into staring me in the eyes as she tries to calm herself down. "See? Just focus on me and you'll be fine." I glance ahead of us and see we're almost over the hill. "Okay, we're about to go down." She starts turning her head, but I turn it towards me again, knowing she'll get scared. "Keep your eyes on me."

The rollercoaster goes over the hill. Ally screams as we go down, but since the seats are separated, I can't really do much. This rollercoaster is a bit boring in my opinion. But this is Ally's first, so she's terrified. She keeps her eyes locked on mine even though we're going up and down and twisting and turning at crazy speeds. Her knuckles are still white as she holds the lap bar.

"See? This isn't so bad!" I shout over the wind.

"I'm trying really hard not to freak out right now!" Ally shouts back.

"You're doing great!" I tell her encouragingly. Shortly, we end up back at the start.

"Thank goodness it's over," she says.

"Um, it's so short, it goes twice. We're halfway done." Her eyes widen.

"You're kidding right?"

"Hey, you got through it once, you'll get through it again. Remember, eyes on me. Or even close your eyes if that makes you feel better." We start climbing the hill again. I see her hands shaking as they grip the bar. "Try putting your arms up. It's more fun," I say, demonstrating the proper rollercoaster pose.

"Yeah, no thanks," Ally says.

"At least loosen your grip," I say.

"I'm fine the way I am," she says in the same tone, still staring me in the eyes. I sigh.

"Are you even enjoying yourself?"

"Not really. But I _have _to get over this fear. At least you're here helping me through, yeah?" I nod.

"You ready? We're about to go down again." She nods, still not breaking eye contact.

"Ready as I'll ever be." Just as she finishes saying that, we go down, and she erupts in more screams. I throw my arms up and laugh. Out of my peripheral vision, I see Ally turn her head forward and let go of the lap bar, letting her arms fly up. A laugh bubbles from her mouth.

"There ya go!" I shout.

"Whoo!" she exclaims, smiling. The color is returning to her face.

"Yeah!" I say, laughing. We continue screaming and laughing until the ride stops.

"That was actually pretty fun," Ally says as we get off. "Once I let go." I grin.

"See? I told ya. But now we're gonna keep going on bigger ones until we get to-" I turn Ally's body until she's facing the largest rollercoaster in the park, "the Corpse Coaster. Kind of a lame name if you ask me, but that thing looks _awesome_." The coaster is so tall, we have to tilt our heads all the way back to see it. "We're not going on it yet, though, so don't worry." Ally nods and I lead her to the next rollercoaster.

Two hours and seven rollercoasters later, Ally and I find ourselves in line for the Corpse Coaster. Ally's been having fun on all the rollercoasters after being terrified at first, so I'm not surprised when the color drains from her face again as we wait. But she's also visibly shaking, so I start talking to get her mind off of her fear.

"So I was thinking, since this is the last ride, after this we could hit up any rides you wanna go on again, or we could leave right away and go get dinner at that pizza place again." Ally nods.

"I'm craving some Hawaiian pizza." I smile.

"I dunno, pepperoni sounds pretty good to me." We move up in line and Ally swallows hard.

"Remember earlier when I said maybe we didn't have to go on _every _ride? I'm gonna say that again. Why don't we just go now? Yeah, let's go," Ally says, sort of talking to herself.

"C'mon, Als. You can do this. All that preparing. You're ready. You won't get hurt. How many times do I have to tell you I'll protect you, Als? You'll be okay. I promise." She sighs.

"I know you won't let me get hurt, and you won't let anything bad happen to me, and all that stuff. But I'm still terrified. I don't think I can do this." I move up again in line, pulling her with me.

"You _can_, Als. You'll be great, okay? What do I have to do to get you less scared?" She shrugs.

"There's nothing _to _do. I'm scared. That's all there is to it." We move up again.

"You have to get over this fear, Ally. You've been doing really good so far. If you can get through this ride, I know you'll be completely over your fear of rollercoasters," I tell her. She nods.

Finally, it's our turn to get on the ride. I get on first and she slowly follows. On this ride, it's one big bench for some reason. I'm not sure if that's safe, but I'm actually kinda grateful for it. I put my arm around her and pull Ally close like I've done on so many other rides and pull the lap bar down. Ally's still shaking and pale, and I run my hand up and down her arm in an attempt to comfort her.

"You're gonna be fine, Als. You're doing great. Deep breaths. Close your eyes. I'll be right here the whole time." She leans on my shoulder and closes her eyes and takes a deep breath like I told her to. I kiss the top of her head and continue rubbing her arm. My other hand is on top of one of hers-she's gripping the lap bar tighter than ever before. I rub circles on her hand with my thumb.

I realize that not only do we act like a couple, but I act like more of a boyfriend to her than I ever did to Kira, or anyone for that matter. And I don't even have a crush on her.

The wooden coaster creaks as it starts moving. We begin the slow climb up the high hill. Ally continues taking deep breaths and she doesn't open her eyes. I grab the lap bar with the arm that's around her, so I'm sort of trapping her between my arm and my body. I don't want her moving a lot during the ride. Now that I'm thinking about it, this ride isn't really all that safe. I take my hand off of hers and grip the lap bar right next to where she's holding it. Ally scoots even closer to me, so I tighten my arm around her.

"We're about a quarter of the way up," I inform her. She nods.

After a little while, Ally says, "Austin?" in a weak voice.

"Yeah?" I ask.

"Remember how you heard about that dream I had where we kissed and stuff?"

"Mmhm," I say, not sure where she's going with this.

"And then I said it was, you know, the best feeling ever? But that it was only a dream that wouldn't come true?"

"Yeah," I say.

"Well, it came true." She opens her eyes and looks up at me. "Sorry, but I-uh-I thought you should know."

"You're talking like you think we're gonna die on this thing or something, Als," I say. She shrugs.

"It's called the Corpse Coaster. Can you blame me?" I chuckle.

"We're not gonna die. As for the kiss thing…" I trail off. "Don't stress about it, okay? I can tell you're worried now that you've told me, but I'm not weirded out or anything." She nods. "But I guess since you just confessed something, I should confess something, too." I take a deep breath. "My middle name's Monica." Ally blinks.

"That wasn't funny."

"No, I'm not kidding. I'll show you my birth certificate. My name is Austin Monica Moon," I say, wincing slightly. Ally's eyes widen, and then she snorts. She masks it with a cough.

"It's not funny," she says. "It's just a name. I'm not laughing."

"Go ahead, laugh." She's about to, but she makes the mistake of turning away from me to do so. Now, we're about halfway up the hill. When she sees how high we are, she yelps and buries her face back in my side.

"I don't think I'm gonna get through this," she says, her voice muffled by my shirt. I go back to rubbing her arm, making a mental note to go back to the lap bar when we get closer to the top.

"You will. I promise. You trust me don't you?"

"Yeah," she says. "I have no reason not to."

"Exactly. So you can trust me when I say you _will _get through this ride." She doesn't reply.

After a while, I return my hand to the lap bar. I kiss her head again, hoping it'll comfort her.

"Get ready," I say. "We're almost at the top." She nods nervously, keeping her eyes shut tight. "Here we go…" I say as we start going over the hill.

The descent is slow for about two seconds, but then the coaster is released and we race down, cutting off in a sharp turn at the bottom. Ally screams her head off and I can't say I'm doing much better. But I'm laughing as I scream. Ally is just screaming in fear.

"You're doing great, Als!" I shout as we go upside down. All we have is a lap bar; that is _not _safe. Before we go on the second loop I take my hand away from the lap bar and use it to hold Ally tighter. I feel her hovering above the seat whenever we go down a hill, and this ride is much worse than the Magic Carpets. Ally's using one hand to clutch the hand that's holding her for dear life, while the other still holds the lap bar.

"Is it almost over?" she screams, her eyes still closed. I spit some of her hair out of my mouth again.

"Yeah! I shout. "One more hill and then it's over!" She nods as we go up the last hill. Unfortunately, this one goes down as far as the other one, but it goes underground for most of it. I tighten my grip on her even more as we plunge into the darkness. Ally screams even more and now uses both hands to clutch the arm I'm using to hold her in the car.

Suddenly, we come to a stop. Ally stops screaming and breathes heavily. My arm is still around her waist, and she's still clutching my arm for dear life. With my other hand, I fix my crazy hair as I talk to her, smiling.

"It's over, Ally. You did it. You made it through, just like I promised. Everything's fine, see? And now, we can both officially say we've ridden every ride at an amusement park."

"Austin," Ally says when she's calm enough to speak, "I could've easily _fallen out _of this thing!" We begin the long climb back above ground.

"But you didn't," I say. "I made sure it didn't happen. Do you know how much trouble I'd be in if I let you fall out of a rollercoaster?" She gives me a look. "I'm kidding! Ally, I'd never let you get hurt, okay? Even though we've only been friends for, like, a week, you mean more to me than I ever would've imagined you would." She sighs.

"Thanks for not letting me fall out," she says, and I know she's half kidding. I chuckle and return my arm to my side. "So your middle name really is Monica?"

"Why would I joke about that?" I ask. Ally starts cracking up. "It's not funny," I complain. She keeps laughing. "I could easily bring up your little confession and start laughing about it," I say. Ally shuts up immediately.

We sit in comfortable silence until we get off the ride. After that terrifying experience, Ally doesn't really wanna go on any more rides, and I don't blame her. I mean, I'd kinda like to go on the Tunnel of Love again to see if whatever happened when I kissed her happens again, but I don't say that out loud. She'd probably think I was making fun of her, anyways. But again, _I don't like her_. I just…_really _like kissing her. And _no_, I'm not saying it too much, I just don't want you assuming anything else.

We leave the park and have an uneventful dinner of the amazing pizza we had the other night, like I promised. After that, I take Ally home.

"Goodnight, Ally," I say when we arrive at her house.

"Night, Austin," she says. "Thanks for today. Despite my constant screaming and fear and stuff, I had a really good time." I smile.

"So did I. We should go again sometime."

"Except maybe skip a few rides." I nod.

"But I can only think of two I'll allow us to skip." She nods in agreement.

"Yeah, the rest were fun. Just-ah-the two terrifying ones we should skip." I chuckle.

"C'mon, Tunnel of Love wasn't _terrifying_." She shrugs.

"Maybe not for you…"

"C'mon, hearts and couples and Cupids are terrifying to you?" I ask.

"No, that part wasn't terrifying. You know what I'm talking about," she replies.

"I still don't think kissing qualifies as terrifying. It was five seconds, Als."

"It felt like an eternity."

"An amazing eternity?" I ask, wiggling my eyebrows and smiling. She rolls her eyes.

"An amazingly terrifying eternity," she says. "How's that?" I shrug.

"Still wasn't terrifying."

"Well you weren't the one feeling your best dream and worst nightmare become a reality, now were ya, Blondie?" she says, getting out of my car.

"Can't say that I was, Shortie." She shuts the door and shoots me a glare through the rolled-down window.

"Thanks again," she says.

"No problem," I reply. She waves goodbye and walks up the sidewalk to her house, opening the front door and letting herself in. I sigh and roll up the window and drive home.

I get ready for bed quickly, and as I do, I think about all of today's events. Well, actually, one in particular. The one that I know I'll never be able to stop thinking about. The one that didn't give me butterflies, didn't make me feel sparks, and didn't make my heart speed up, but the one that made me wonder why I wanted more.

The kiss. The event that could be the door Ratliff's metaphorical key could unlock.

* * *

**So, yeah. I know I mentioned it 3 times in the chapter but I'm going to again. AUSTIN DOES NOT HAVE A CRUSH ON ALLY! HE JUST REALLY REALLY REALLY ENJOYS KISSING HER! Don't ask about that logic, okay? Just...wait. But remember that information because it'll come into play later in the story. So, was it too fluffy? I know it was really long and stuff and I'm really _really _sorry for that. But now do you see why I couldn't split it up? I tried to make it as short as possible, but I needed to put in the first few rides at the beginning-especially Tunnel of Love-and obviously her first rollercoaster and then the big one and so I really tried my best and I hope you guys don't hate me for making it too long. I just wanna please you guys, okay? I hope that was enough Auslly to hold you over for a while. But again, remember HE DOESN'T LIKE HER YET! If I get a review saying how they're so happy Austin finally likes Ally... *shakes head* OKAY, so if you liked the chapter, put TUNNEL OF LOVE in a review! If you thought it was okay, put MAGIC CARPETS in a review! If you hated it, put CORPSE COASTER in a review! Thanks for reading and please review! Love you more than Austin loves kissing Ally!**

**~Maddie :)**


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